Why You Gotta Go And Get So Domesticated? (or A Lawyer Turns A Shower Curtain Into A Tote Bag)

For the last 10 years or so I’ve been a total workaholic.   I never thought of myself as a workaholic until recently.  Suddenly, finding myself with more than just occasional free evenings and weekends, I find myself thinking, “whoah, people actually do things besides work and study??”  Ok, I don’t really think that, but I didn’t really realize how hard I worked and studied until I suddenly found myself with free time.  Suddenly I’m cooking, painting, and getting into crafting and DIYing.  Why did I never do these things before?  Oh yeah, I was too busy working and studying.

My last year of high school, I took night school on the side so I could graduate early, babysat a ton, volunteered in my church office and worked on the youth staff.  In college, I took 17 credits per term, worked 30+ hours per week in an office job, volunteered in my church office and on the youth staff, and babysat on the side.  Then came law school.  Between going to class, studying, interviewing, and internships… I wasn’t really swimming in free time there either.   In my entire 3 years of law school, I am pretty sure I only cooked one meal.  Then came the summer of hades studying for the bar exam.  I spent all day every day studying.  I think the only day I took off was the 4th of July.  And even then I brought flashcards with me to randomly flip through throughout the day.  And then came my job at a Big Firm.  Once I got busy, for months on end the only thing I did besides work was occasionally sleep.  I thought I had been “busy” in my life before.  I thought my schedule in college was rough.  I thought law school finals were rough.  I thought the BAR was rough.  But, whew, nothing compares to the crazy, busy times at work.

And suddenly I have found myself not so crazy busy.  Just regular busy.  And suddenly I’ve found myself wanting to do tons of things I haven’t had time for in the past 10 years, including things I’ve never really tried.

Enter: New Sewing Machine.  In the back of mind, I’ve always been interested in sewing.  Even though the first time I tried to sew, in home economics in middle school, I failed miserably.  The thing is… I am ridiculously tall, and it is ridiculously hard to find dresses and skirts that fit right.  Wouldn’t it be great to be able to make my own?  And seriously… How can you browse Pinterest and NOT want a sewing machine??  There are so many cute DIY dresses and projects on pinterest these days!  So I got the idea in my head that I needed to buy a sewing machine and try my hand at sewing.  Then, several weeks ago, Dave bought me a sewing machine.  And last night, I finally got the motivation to try my first sewing project.

I’ve had this tote bag pinned on pinterest for a while now.  And while I haven’t purchased any fabric, I have a few old shower curtains that I saved, thinking I could turn them into something.  Like this one, which my mom bought for me when I moved into my first apartment in L.A.:

Bathroom in My First Downtown L.A. Loft

So last night, I pulled out the shower curtain, a pair of scissors, and my sewing machine… And, viola!  A tote bag from a shower curtain!  (Also, it only takes about 3/4 of a yard to make the bag, so I have a ton of fabric left!)

My First Tote Bag!

I thought about taking step by step pictures, but the blog tutorial I followed already does that.  The bag is a little bigger than I would like.   I plan to make another one, and I’ll probably shrink the measurements the next time around.  Also, the button on the bag?  It was the spare button from the sweater I’m wearing in the picture.  It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty proud of my first bag!  Lawyer by day, seamstress by night, y’all

In related news, I’m going to need to buy some buttons before all my sweaters end up missing their spares.  Also, I’m going to need to buy a new shower curtain stat.  (Just kidding.. like I said, I wasn’t using that shower curtain anymore).

Perils of Travel: Keurigs Won’t Work in the Car, Y’all.

I have recently managed to make Dave a believer in certain products that seem overrated/overpriced.  One of those products is the Keurig.  Why would one need a Keurig when they already have a working coffee pot?  Enter the beauty of having a fresh cup of coffee ready in under a minute, whenever you want it.  He’s sold.

So when we realized we’d be in the car for a combined total of around 40 hours on our recent roadtrip to/from Portland,  Dave had the idea that we should bring the Keurig in the car.  How awesome would that be?  Driving down the 5 in the middle of nowhere, and fresh coffee available on command!  I, being the lawyer, could only think of all the ways that could go wrong (mainly of the spilling hot coffee all over my car/all over myself variety).  Imagine that lawsuit:

Girl Sues Keurig When Hot Coffee Spills All Over Her Lap After Trying To Use A Keurig In A Car While In Motion

I would never live that down.  But Dave was convinced it was a good idea, so I decided to give it a whirl.  I left the machine sitting on the floor in the passenger seat.  I hooked it up to the adapter, poured in the water, put in the k-cup, and pushed brew.   NOTHING.  The machine made a sound for a second and then shut off.   Was it a balance issue?  Did we blow a fuse?  Was there not enough power?  We didn’t know, but Dave was we were determined to figure it out.  This might come as a surprise, but apparently people don’t really google “How to make a keurig work in a car,”  and FAQ lists just don’t cover this issue either.  Why aren’t others as brilliant as we are?  Why hasn’t anyone else tried this awesome idea??

Unable to find any help via google, we tried various alternatives.  (Honestly, I was totally up for giving up at this point but Dave was determined to find a solution).  If it was a balance issue, maybe finding a flatter surface would help.  No cigar.   I tried the handy unplug-replug idea.  Nothing.  I tried holding down the brew button, which ultimately forced a brew of cold, weak coffee.

I was pretty sure at that point that something was up with the heating element.  So Dave suggested I google how much power it takes to make a Keurig work.  It turns out it takes 1500 watts to be able to heat up.  It also turns out our adapter only put out a maximum of 300 watts.  Mystery solved!  Dave’s solution?  ”We need to get a bigger car!”

With our instant Keurig coffee dreams shot, we were forced to “rough it” with gas station and Starbucks coffee for the rest of our trip like normal people.  Clearly, this is not as rough as the people who travelled via covered wagon back in the day, who did not have coffee machines and heat, and google at their finger tips, but it’s all relative, right?! On the bright side, what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger.  ;-)

Taking The Road Less Travelled (i.e. Not Interstate 5).

My first road-trip to California was in 2005 when my 6’7″ brother and I (6’3″) piled into my tiny Nissan 200SX and drove straight through from Portland to Highland, CA to visit his girlfriend for a couple of days… Before turning around and driving back two days later.  We took I-5 most of the way there, and we ultimately got lost somewhere around Rialto and then I ended up bawling my eyes out on the side of the road in downtown San Bernardino late at night, pretty sure that I was going to get carjacked.  But that is a story for another day.  Not the greatest experience for a first drive, but we ultimately made it.  (I am not sure if GPS was not around yet, or I was just too poor to have GPS… but my printed out Yahoo Map failed me big time).

Since I decided to go to law school in Malibu the following year, that trip was the first of many, many drives between Portland and the Los Angeles area, almost all of which were straight through drives, many of them by myself (and even with company, I usually did most or all of the driving).  That is nearly 1000 miles straight through, y’all.  Every single time I have told myself “OMG THAT WAS AWFUL.  I AM NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN.”   And yet, the opportunity presents itself and I do it again.  At least a couple of times per year, for the last…. 6 years?  Why?  Well, I have completely lost my mind, obviously.  Additionally, there is the therapeutic nature of the open road, the fact that even with gas prices these days driving is cheaper than flying (and I am nothing if not a bargain hunter), and the fact that it is nice to have my own car in Portland and bring as much luggage as I want (and sadly sometimes the motivation is the need to transport giant binders of work).

So… Thanksgiving was rolling around and Dave and I decided to go visit my family in Portland.  And we decided to.. you guessed it… drive.   The gas was DEFINITELY cheaper than the price of putting two humans and two dogs on a plane (or two humans on a plane and two dogs in day care), plus we knew it would be nice to have our own car up there.  Dave refused to follow the Michelle-Crazy-School-Of-Thought and was not willing to drive the 1000+ miles all in one day.  He also was not interested in taking I-5 the whole way, even though it is by far the quickest route.  For those who have not had the pleasure of driving the 600 miles or so of I-5 through The Middle of Nowhere, California… Let me just ruin the surprise for you and tell you that it leaves much to be desired.  We decided to split the drive up into two days each way, stopping both times to visit Dave’s friends in Monterey, and taking the prettier coastal route on the way up.

BEST. IDEA. EVER.

The drive was beautiful, and with the exception of some really bad traffic at one point, I never reached the “OMG GET ME OUT OF THIS CAR I WOULD DRIVE OFF A CLIFF RIGHT NOW IF THERE WAS ONE JUST TO GET OUT OF THIS CAR” point.

Parts of Highway 1 totally reminded me of my drive around the Coastal Causeway of Northern Ireland.  So beautiful!  It’s one lane each way most of the time, and very curvy at points, and I imagine the traffic can get pretty bad at high travel times.  Luckily for us, we were driving it in the middle of the day on Tuesday so there wasn’t any traffic.  Just miles and miles of beautiful views… and me attempting to take pictures of said views with one hand with my iPhone while Cosmo “held” my other hand.

Cosmo "holding my hand"

 

 

On the way back from Monterey, we wanted to be sure to get past L.A. before the worst of rush hour traffic, so we took the 101, and cut across near Fresno to return to the dreaded I-5.  It was 6 hours instead of 8 though (and 6 hours would put us in L.A. ahead of the evening rush).  And L.A. traffic is awful.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.   However, even our short cut turned out to be pretty.  It turns out the 101 from Monterey takes you right through some California wine country.  Unfortunately, I don’t really have good pictures of that but I’m so glad we took that route back!

Now, safely back on solid, flat, sunny, dry ground in Southern California, we both swear that we won’t make that drive again, even the pretty one, unless we are moving there.  We’ll see next year

Musings from a Confederate (aka My Georgia-Born Boyfriend).

My boyfriend, Dave, likes to refer to me as a “Yankee” and frequently refers to my homeland (Oregon) as part of “the territories.”  And I’m always saying, “I’m not a Yankee!” and then he says something like, “What side do you think you were on?!”  As in, in the Civil War.  Yeah, that little brawl in the South about 150 years ago.  It’s been 150 years, y’all, and the South lost.  I think it’s time to let it go.  And besides, I’m pretty sure all Oregon was doing during the Civil War was protecting our gold while the folks to the East had their epic battle (and, you know, hunkering down on all that territory we’d staked claim to after taking our covered wagons a couple thousand miles while trying not to catch dysentery).  I am not meaning to make light of the Civil War here, I am just intending to make light of Dave calling me a Yankee on a regular basis.

Dave actually read a (fiction) book recently about an alternate ending to the Civil War where the South actually won.  Riiiight.  Dare to dream  It should also be noted that Dave feels a special connection to the Civil War, not only because he is from a confederate state, but because he went to The Citadel, and apparently Cital cadets kind of started the Civil War (woops?).  And, since the Civil War was a big deal in the South, they spend a heck of a lot more time actually learning about it (and reenacting it!) than anybody in the Former Territories.  I am pretty sure the extent we learned about the Civil War was a couple of days in history class.  I remember very little of the facts.  I didn’t even know until yesterday, when I googled it, that the war started on my birthday (April 12, 1861).  If I had learned that in school I am pretty sure I would have remembered it.

Recently Dave and I had the following conversation (debating who has the better home state):

Dave: Oh yeah?! Was your state one of the original 13 colonies?
Michelle: No… But whose state was one of the ones that lost the Civil War?

I ended up posting the above as a status on Facebook, which led to THIRTY-NINE comments.  Here is an excerpt of them:

• Michelle (Me): Dave says this is not a fair status because I have so many friends who live in “the territories.”

  September 22 at 7:46pm · Like ·  1 person
• Shannan: Sounds like his home state also wasn’t a place where everyone wanted to be since they all came to Oregon.

  September 22 at 7:47pm · Unlike ·  2 people
• Anjuli: Was your state it’s own country? #Texas

  September 22 at 7:50pm · Unlike ·  2 people
• Erik: Did Ray Charles sing “Oregon on my mind”?

  September 22 at 7:50pm · Unlike ·  2 people
• Michelle (me): Lol! Dave just loudly cheered at your comment. But did anyone play Georgia Trail in computer class growing up? I think not

  September 22 at 7:52pm · Like ·  6 people
• Nikki: at least in georgia, i can get a peach. if i go to oregon, i die of dysentery…

  September 22 at 7:56pm · Unlike ·  2 people
• Michelle (Me): Nikki, whose side are you on?!?! Glamazons are supposed to stick together!

  September 22 at 7:57pm · Like
• Nikki: but you’re both tall. i’m so torn.  *goes off to find a pro oregon response*

  September 22 at 7:57pm · Like
• Nikki: omg. Oregon’s the “beaver state”.. that is enough for me to side with you.

  September 22 at 7:59pm · Like
• Shannan: Wine, produce, mountains out the ear…beautiful scenery

  September 22 at 8:00pm · Like ·  1 person
• Kendra: I’ve lived in the north and south… My only southern preference is the sun, lol

  September 22 at 8:13pm · Like
• Erik: Jermaine Dupree must have thought about “welcome to Portland” or Allan Jackson- “way down yonder on the Willamette River” or maybe “The Devil went down to Oregon”? But I feel most sorry for a state that has no Waffle House to visit at 2am after the bars close!

  September 22 at 8:16pm · Unlike ·  1 person
• Shannan:See, the Devil’s down in Georgia. What does that tell you?

  September 22 at 8:18pm · Like ·  1 person
• Kevin (MY OWN BROTHER!): I vote for Georgia…

  September 22 at 8:41pm · Like ·  2 people
• Michelle (Me): Traitor!!

  September 22 at 8:41pm · Like
• Shannan: ‎Kevin, you don’t count.

  September 22 at 8:42pm · Unlike ·  2 people
• Kevin:Yes. My wife and all my kids are southern, so that’s where my allegiance lies. Oregon football would wipe the floor with Georgia though.

  September 22 at 8:43pm · Unlike ·  2 people
• Michelle (Me): Just because Georgia is technically closer to Texas, where all of your children were born, doesn’t mean you have to vote for the losing half of the country

  September 22 at 8:45pm · Like ·  2 people
• Kevin: I think you should marry into the South too

  September 22 at 8:45pm · Like ·  1 person
• Kevin: Jefferson Davis > Abraham Lincoln

  September 22 at 8:46pm · Like
• Michelle (Me): Who are you?!?

  September 22 at 8:47pm · Like ·  1 person
• Kevin: The South will rise again!

  September 22 at 8:49pm · Like
• Michelle (Me): Dave says that all the time… he recently read a book by Newt Gingrich (fictionally of course) about the south winning the Civil War….. Some people just can’t let go

  September 22 at 8:49pm · Like
• Kristin (Kevin’s wife): i see my work with kevin is done!

  September 22 at 8:50pm · Like
• Dave (the Boyfriend): I will have to school her. She will soon see the light…
  September 22 at 8:53pm · Like ·  2 people
• Kevin: Kristin and I will be by your side David.

  September 22 at 8:54pm · Like ·  1 person
• Shannan:  Never let go Michelle! Never let go!

  September 22 at 8:56pm · Unlike ·  1 person
• Melissa: shoot, humidity or rain?? I vote for AZ

  September 22 at 9:00pm · Like
• Michelle (Me): I would be with you on AZ if it were possible to breathe while walking outside in the summer. The home prices and sunshine are AWESOME!

  September 22 at 9:01pm · Like
• Kevin:  Arizona is for old people and illegal immigrants.

  September 22 at 9:05pm · Like
• Jolene: i have thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. that is all. lol

Lessons to be learned from this post:

1) The South lost, y’all.
2) I am not a Yankee.
3) My brother is a traitor.
4) Texas is not The South.
5) Something about Arizona (what?!).

Musings re I need a vacation.

So I don’t seem to update this blog much, but I am what some may call “facebook obsessed” or “facebook addicted” or “someone please find this girl a support group because it is getting a little out of control.”

Here’s the thing: updating facebook takes like 5 seconds.  Browsing the newsfeed to see what’s up with my friends?  I probably spend a couple minutes several times a day.  It’s a way to stay in touch with a lot of people without having to take the time to actually get on the phone or write an email.  Granted, that is not necessarily a good thing, but I’m not swimming in an ocean of free time right now.  This girl is busy!  (except for this moment where I am randomly folding laundry and updating my blog at 11:00am because SHHH don’t tell anyone!  I chose to work from home and actually have a few minutes of downtime). 

Anyway, I thought I would share some of my recent facebook statuses, so you can have a peak into my super exciting life all these weeks I’ve been not posting   As you can see, I do my best to keep my close friends and family informed of all the important things going on.

• Narrowly avoided brutal migraine with 3 ibuprofen and two shots of espresso. (it was touch and go for about an hour). Ok, so half a cup of yesterday’s coffee bc I’m too lazy to make more is not enough caffeine for the day.. Lesson learned
• just took a quick lunch break to make brownies so I could eat the leftover batter in the bowl. I’m going to guess that Costco jumbo pack of brownie mix was not a good idea.
• Left a bagel on the counter and turned my back to get a knife, and ninja Ellie managed to jump up and take it. I thought i’d lost my mind and then looked down an saw her licking it on the ground. 5 second rule?
• gave up on waiting for cold enough weather and finally got an (iced) Pumpkin Spice Latte today. If it was legal to marry Pumpkin Spice, I would. There, I said it.
• made it two years without ever having to e-file anything, and finally had to bite the bullet and learn how to e-file something this morning. Only took me about 3 hours to file two relatively simple filings…. I felt like a senior citizen trying to figure out the internet.
• “I really, really just want to… I want to zig-a-zig-ah.” I just had this thought while trying to think of what I would rather be doing than work. Watch out… my subconscious apparently thinks becoming a Spice Girl could be my new Plan B.
• so currently my (computerized) door lock barely works, my washer is broken, my garbage disposal is broken, and then I came home last night and my internet and cable were out and there is black water in my toilet. I suppose it is finally time to call in a maintenance request.
• didn’t feel tired until just now, when it took me a full minute to figure out how to spell “about,” and then I attempted to click “like” on a coworker’s email and couldn’t find the like button.
• You win again, 4:10am. You always do. Ugggg. In brighter news, my early rising is my own fault because I actually spent some time not working yesterday. Shocking, but true
• Wow, just spent an inordinate amount of time browsing anti-aging products at Target. Thank you, Big Law, for making me an old lady before my time
• just tried to make coffee without water. On second thought, straight coffee grounds would probably be more useful at this point
• Uh, power is out in all of SD. Is this the part where the aliens come out of the bay and attempt to wipe us out?! That is the only rational explanation.
• ‎48 hours of R&R in Texas zapped by tons of kids and babies screaming bloody murder on flight back. (1) not ready to be a momma; (2) may need to be institutionalized soon.
• Me, re: my desperate need for vacation because my brain no longer functions: “I wish I could just have two months to decompose….wait…”
• Just found my missing new digital camera (believed lost in Venice) in my underwear drawer!! Bc of course that is the most rational place to store one’s camera. Anyway, so relieved!!
• pretty sure reading cases from the 1800s is going to cause my skull to mince my brain. Gross.
• due to my increasing absent-mindedness, going to have to self-impose a rule that I cannot have a regular pen within arms reach while using a stylus with the iPad. Yikes.
• let’s go ahead and add “tailoring a diaper for my dog” to things I never thought I’d be doing at 27.
• I stubbed my toe and it hurts so bad I think I may simultaneously faint and vomit. Why am I so wimpy?!
• I have yet to decide whether I am most likely to end up on Hoarders, or that creepy addiction show where people eat laundry sheets and light bulbs, due to my obsession with school supplies despite being out of school for over 2 years now. Like many things, I guess time will tell
• in calmer news, I just had potato skins and a butterfinger for lunch. I am a big firm lawyer, and I have very high standards for food.

See how exciting my day to day life is? I know.  The glitz and glamour of it all can be a bit overwhelming

Ten on Tuesday: Travel Edition

How to perfect to randomly return to blogging for a travel 10 on Tuesday (the original purpose of this blog!).  Questions from RootsAndRings.

1. What is your dream vacation?

Right now, all I can think about is how bad I want to fly to Ireland and spend a week or so driving around the edge of the whole island (can you call it an island)?  I’ve driven around part of Northern Ireland before on the Coastal Causeway (see here), but I would love to do the whole thing!   Currently tentatively planning on this trip for April 2012.   Also planning to hit Italy on that trip.  I’ve never been to Italy, but for some reason I’m more excited about going back to Ireland.  Kind of crazy. 

 

2. What has been your favorite trip so far in your life?
Hmmm….. Way too hard to choose.  I was so lucky to get to live in England for 5 months and travel to so many great places.  Can I just count the time I lived in London (with weekend travels included) as one “trip”?  If not, it’s a pretty close tie between that trip to Ireland, a trip to Switzerland, and Dave and I’s recent trip to San Francisco.   Also, I don’t have a link to it, but I really loved a roadtrip I took with my fam years ago when we moved my brother from Oregon to North Dakota (who knew parts of Idaho and Montana were actually pretty?  Bananas).  

 

3. If you and one of your best friends could go anywhere in the world for one week, where would it be and why?
Depends on the friend.  If it was Dave or Krissi, I’d want to go to Ireland.  If it was Joni, Hawaii.  If Melissa, Alaska!  Along with my crazy urge to go back to Ireland lately, I’ve also been wanting to finally see Hawaii for the first time, and travel around some small towns in Alaska (a la the town in the movie The Proposal).

 

4. Have you ever booked a trip using an online deal? How did it go?

Airlines and hotels on a fairly regular basis…. back in college my friend Juliana and I booked an all-inclusive trip to Mexico (including air and everything) on travelocity.  It went well!  Also booked several airline/hotel combo deals while I was in Europe.  I was always satisfied except for that one time when my hotel in Spain ended up being on the wrong side of the barrio, if you know what I mean.

 

5. What’s your favorite thing to do while you’re on vacation?

It depends.  I love to get out and experience new cities, I love to get out in nature and do outdoorsy things (e.g. scooter down a mountainside in Switzerland or kayak in the ocean in Mexico), and I also like to just go somewhere completely relaxing and just chill.  I would actually really love a trip where I go somewhere and do nothing sometime soon. 

 

6. Have you ever missed an opportunity to take a trip that you regret?

Yes.  Two big ones.  First, while living in London, I never made it to ITALY.  It was in my top 3 must visit places and I didn’t go.  Second, while living in London, I was supposed to visit my friend Bre in Germany, but I ended cancelling (and losing out on the plane ticket money).  I had an unexpected trip to the U.S. for an interview, and when I got back, I was so wiped out and so behind in school I just couldn’t bring myself to get on a plane and head over to Germany.  Now it’s a HUGE regret.  Why didn’t I just go?!

 

7. You travel far away from home and get stranded with no way to buy anything, what’s the one thing you can’t live without?

Hopefully I have my iPhone

 

8. What’s one of your favorite traveling memories?

So many… scootering down that mountainside in Switzerland with the Looneys, that time I went scootering again and crashed because I tried to look behind me while going downhill,  seeing that crazy band at the top of Jungfraujoch, that time I was in Barcelona and people busted out in the dance from Thriller, that time I was in Barcelona and we happened upon a kids festival with a spanish version of the Wiggles and one of the guys jumped off stage and smacked me on the butt, that time I drove around the coast of Northern Ireland, that time we saw a devil parade in Brussels (why don’t I have a post about that?!), okay I’m getting tired of searching now so I’m just going to say some more without linking….. climbing to the top of Notre Dame, taking photos in the bathroom at the top of the Eiffel tower, climbing to the top of the cathedral in Strasbourg, the canal tour in Amsterdam, the vampire hotel room I shared with the Looneys in Switzerland, the time Meghan and I went to Napa, and spent our first night eating Mexican food and then getting a bottle of wine and cookies from a convenience store to consume in our hotel room because we like to keep it classy, seeing the Eiffel tower twinkling at night, the time Dave and I rode bikes across the Golden Gate bridge and it started pouring down rain so hard it washed some of the color out of my jeans and shrunk my TOMs, the time the Looneys and I went to Colorado for 24 hours…. Ok this is way more than one.  I have too many great travel memories…..

9. All included resort or backpacking? Why?

I have never been backpacking, so it sounds a tad tempting because I love being outdoors.  If a friend proposed these options to me, the “I like new things!” part of me would be tempted to choose the backpacking trip.  However, I’m not a huge fan of bugs, or being cold or dirty for too long of a period of time… so I would probably be complaining and fairly miserable around day 2 and wondering why I didn’t choose the all-inclusive resort option    I think day trips into nature are more my speed.

10. Are you more of a lie on the beach kind of person on vacation, or do you prefer to see the sights?

Depends on the trip.  Well, I’m never really a “lie on the beach” kind of person.  Perhaps walk on the beach, or sit in a covered area and read a book kind of person.   Sometimes I like more mellow activities like that, and sometimes I like to get out and see everything.  It just depends.  It still surprises me that my favorite trips in Europe were the ones where I didn’t get out and see all the popular stuff, but got out in nature and went for hikes, drives, etc.

Long Overdue: San Francisco Part III- Target, Trains and Trees.

After a good night’s sleep from our Alcatraz/Biking Washout adventure, we woke up bright and early to drive out to Napa (which is about an hour drive from San Francisco) to take a wine train through Napa.   Since we had neglected to bring our regular cameras, we decided to stop by a Target on the way up to Napa and buy a digital camera so we could be sure to get good pictures.  In the end, the pictures on that camera weren’t better than the pictures from my iPhone which was unfortunate.  However, it did have a “fish photo” option which provided us with a ton of entertainment throughout the day.  Two samples posted below.

When we got to Napa, we found a little place to eat breakfast called Alexis Baking Company & Cafe.  Unfortunately the wait was too long and we ended up getting breakfast sandwiches to go.   I can’t really give a legitimate review of the food (given we took it to go and it was lukewarm by the time we ate it at the train station and I can’t even remember the food at this point), but the place was packed and it looked cute.  I would definitely go back next time I visit Napa and have a little more time to sit down and eat.

For the Napa Valley Wine Train, we originally purchased tickets for the Silverado Car, but we were on a wait list for the Gourmet Lunch and thankfully ended up getting upgraded to the Gourmet Lunch.  Even better, technically the Gourmet Lunch was cheaper for us, because there was a military discount for that option.  Better food and better experience for cheaper price?  I vote yes.   Also, at one point I walked through the train to find a restroom and walked through the Silverado car.  I was SO thankful we were able to get the Gourmet lunch.  The Silverado car had no air conditioning, had the ambiance of a gas station Subway restaurant, and was extremely loud.  The gourmet car was quiet, air conditioned, and generally wonderful

Waiting for the train to leave

The gourmet cars are refurbished to look like they would have in the early 1900s.  We had the “second seating,” which meant for the first half of the ride, we were in a “lounge car” that had cozy chairs facing out to big picture windows, and were served an appetizer course.   There was a bartender who periodically told us interesting facts about Napa and the sights out the windows.  I may or may not have disturbed the peaceful ambiance by snort laughing at pictures Dave and I took using the fish photo feature on the new camera.

Appetizer Course

 

Nice Views

 

Fish Photo 1

Fish Photo 2

 

At the halfway point, the train turned around and we were seated at tables in the dining car for a three course lunch.   I had a baby lettuce salad with candied walnuts and goat cheese, followed by a delicious chicken entree and of course chocolate cake for dessert

 

 

 

You are allowed to walk through the cars and can stop by the kitchen car and see the food being prepared, and there is also  a car where you can go do a wine tasting.  We didn’t get around to doing either of those things, but I really enjoyed it.  I would totally recommend it to someone who hadn’t been to Napa before as a good primer for the region, and even to people who have been there a lot who want to have a delicious lunch in a unique setting (i.e. with all of Napa streaming past you instead of just sitting in one location).

After the train ride, we headed out to the Muir Woods for a hike.  The drive up to the park was beautiful, and we stopped at one point and took some pictures of the view from the top of one of the hills.

Finding the entrance to the park was a bit tricky, as was finding parking, but after paying the $5 per person entry fee, we were soon walking through a forest of Coast Redwoods.  While there aren’t any drive through trees in the Muir Woods like some of the redwoods you can find further north in California, the trees are Coast redwoods, the tallest trees in the world.  We walked a few of the loops for a total of about 3 miles in about an hour.   I was not dressed appropriately for a hike… planning fail on my part… But luckily the trails are not intense.   It’s (normally) a very short drive from San Francisco.  You just cut over the Golden Gate bridge and it’s about 9 miles away.  I will definitely be recommending this side trip to anyone I know who visits San Francisco.

Self Portrait

Unfortunately for us, we were visiting Muir Woods on a holiday weekend, and it took us over an hour and a half to drive that 9 miles back into San Francisco.  Also unfortunately, the stop and go traffic combined with me turning the trapped time in the car into endless photo opportunities resulted in me getting extremely car sick.  Dave offered to pull over but I thought I was going to be fine.  Then, it happened.  Just a few blocks before we reached our hotel, sitting in the passenger seat while my boyfriend of one month was driving, I started vomiting into an Old Navy bag.  That’s right, I know how to keep it classy.  I kept apologizing, mainly because I couldn’t stop thinking about this episode of How I Met Your Mother where Lily gets sick and her husband thinks she sounds like a velociraptor when she barfs, and that sound is dubbed over every time she barfs.  Because I am the queen of rational thinking, I was pretty convinced that Dave was going to be really grossed out and think I also sound like a velociraptor when I barf.

Leaving Muir Woods... Dave stays calm, I freak out.

Fish Photo on Windy Road (probably what made me sick...)

 

Fish Photo 3

Dave's "I Love Traffic" Face

So close, but so far away...

Once I was no longer in a moving car, I felt a lot better.  We changed clothes and decided to walk down Fisherman’s Wharf for dinner.  We were kind of anti-Fisherman’s Wharf because of the whole tourist trap atmosphere, but a sourdough breadbowl from Boudin Bakery sounded good so we went with it.   After dinner, we walked around the pier for awhile.   It’s really pretty at night with the water and the city/bridge/pier lights, and there is great people and seal watching.

I can’t remember the exact details of why we decided to walk back to our hotel.   We got a really late start on dinner, so by this point it was pretty late and not knowing the neighborhoods, I wasn’t entirely sure that it was the best idea to walk our way back but we did and we were fine.

The next morning we had breakfast at our hotel’s (Sir Francis Drake) restaurant, Scala’s Bistro, before leaving to drive home.   The restaurant is beautiful, the food and coffee were delicious, and the best part was that we got $30 off.  You can get $10/day coupons from the hotel for foregoing housekeeping because it is the environmental thing to do.  So, win for the environment and win for us!

Intermission: 10 on Tuesday

See other people’s answers to the questions over at RootsAndRings.

1. What colour are your toenails painted?  It is called “William Tell Me About OPI” which is a really dark eggplant color.  I was in LOVE with “Lincoln Park After Dark” for the longest time and all of a sudden I haven’t been able to find it anywhere.   This one is really close.  Might be even better. 

2. What colour are your fingernails painted?
Not painted.  I recently discovered that I love the look of having my nails painted, but it chips too quickly, and I am incapable of painting my right hand myself without looking like a 3 year old did it for me.. so they are very rarely painted

3. What is your favourite brand of nail polish? OPI, but I don’t own any. I  just choose it at nail salons.

4. As the norm, do you DIY your nails or get mani/pedis? I try to keep up with pedis… but occassionally do my toes myself.  However, as noted above, not capable of DIYing my fingernails.

5. Have you ever had a gel mani? Do you recommend it?  Fake nails?  Yes.  And while I liked the look at the time, I do not recommend it at all because it DESTROYED my nail beds for awhile.   My nails looked so gross for awhile after taking the fake nails off.  And according to this article I read the other day, fake nails are considered tacky these days.  There you go, ladies. 

6. What is the last movie you watched on television?  Finally watched Slumdog Millionaire last night.  Very good movie.  Sad, but good.

7. What is the last movie you watched in the cinema?  I think it was Bridesmaids with Dave.  I laughed so hard I was snorting and crying repeatedly.   Not the best idea so early in our dating relationship, but he hasn’t broken up with me yet

8. Is there a movie that everyone talks about as if it is a classic but you haven’t seen?
If we are talking ACTUAL classics, I’ve seen most of them.. I can’t think of one off the top of my head that I haven’t seen.  However, if we are talking movies from the 90s on, there are a ton I haven’t seen.  Basically, there is about an 80% chance that if you say “Have you seen X movie?”  (where X equals a well known movie made since 1990) the answer will be “No.”  I am not sure what I have been doing with my life, but apparently not watching a ton of TV.  Plus, I tend to sleep through movies so even if a movie was on, I probably slept through it.  Although I stayed awake for ALL of Slumdog Millionaire last night.  So proud of myself!

9. What is your favourite movie soundtrack?
I’ve only purchased one in my life.. .It was for My Best Friend’s Wedding and the songs on the tape (it was back in the days of TAPES people!) were not the same versions as on the movie which I found very disappointing.  Haven’t purchased a soundtrack since.  However, I really liked the soundtrack on Slumdog Millionaire last night. 

10. Have you ever seen a movie and thought it was better than the book it was based on? 
I haven’t… pretty sure it’s not possible because movies don’t allow for the type of detail and development that books do.  However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t love the movies despite the differences.  For example, I LOVED the C.S. Lewis movies.

Long Overdue: San Francisco Part II- Down Came the Rain and Washed The Dark Wash Out.

After our trip to Alcatraz, we rented bikes for an 8 mile bike ride from Fisherman’s Wharf, across the Golden Gate Bridge, and down to Sausalito.  Our plan was to have lunch in Sausalito, and then catch a ferry back to the Wharf.

This is what Sausalito looks like on a sunny day

As is evident from some of the pictures from our adventure to Alcatraz, it was a sunny, beautiful day.  The PERFECT day for a bike ride across the Golden Gate.  So we rented bikes and we were off.  I know a lot of people who go to San Francisco for the first time want to drive across the Golden Gate.  Getting to bike across the bridge was so fun!  We stopped for a lot of photo ops along the way.

 

 

 

 

At the point where we took this photo, we had been stuck behind a tour group of people riding SEGWAYS.  Really? Lazy man’s walking tour I guess.  People, do not go to San Francisco and ride a segway around.

 

By the time we reached this point, it was like “…where did all those clouds come from?” But you know, it’s a bay, clouds roll in, it gets foggy, etc.  I really wasn’t worried about it at all.  Overall the bike ride was beautiful.  And I’m an Oregon girl so I can find beauty in a cloudy day  Our bike ride was along the shore the whole time up until this point, and I just couldn’t get over how beautiful it all was, and how happy I was to be riding a bike in such a beautiful place instead of working

Right about here is when the bike ride got a little tougher because we had to go up a pretty steep hill to get up to cross the Golden Gate.  Pretty sure I walked my bike for part of the time, but my memory is hazy.  Dave is hardcore, I don’t think the hill phased him at all.

Once we got up to the bridge, the wind was a little much so I finally put my sweatshirt on.   We stopped about halfway across to take pictures.

Right after we took these pictures, something crazy happened.  All of a sudden, there were little water droplets hitting my sunglasses.   Just a couple, and then it got to the point I had to take my glasses off because I couldn’t see.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have sunglass wipers?  Why hasn’t anyone invented that?  Oh, probably because it usually doesn’t go from sunny to pouring down rain in a span of 5 minutes when you are halfway across a bridge with no hope of turning back.  Right.

By the time we reached the other side of the bridge, it was pouring.  We sought shelter at a rest stop and considered whether we should wait it out, turn back, or keep going.

I tried to get Dave to make a pouty face with me.  I don’t think he quite understands what a pouty face is.

After waiting it out for a bit, we decided it likely wasn’t going to stop and we might as well continue on to Sausalito (the closer location) and catch a ferry back to the Wharf.  It was a bit scary riding downhill in the rain (and without helmets), but we tried to keep it slow and steady.  The rain was nice and steady too  We were completely soaked.  I was wearing skinny jeans which was a poor choice for biking in any event, but especially when they were completely soaked.  It was so hard to move my legs.  And when I say soaked… I had a puddle in my pants, y’all.  And it rained so much it washed some of the dark wash out of my jeans.  There are permanent lines where the color washed out.  My TOMs shrunk.  (Note: they have since stretched out again.  Thank goodness. I love those shoes!).

By the time we made it down, tons of other bike riders were already there waiting in line for the ferry so we got in line.  I am not sure how long we had to wait in line, but it was over an hour and it was still pouring the entire time.  Dave watched the bikes for a few minutes while I sloshed through the rain into a coffee shop and got us two coffees and two giant cookies.  At this point we had ran down the pier, walked all over Alcatraz, and biked 8 miles since breakfast.  I was HUNGRY.  And since we weren’t exactly in any condition to sit down at a restaurant, we were going to have to wait for more food until we got back to our hotel and changed.

Some people found the situation very humorous (including Dave and I), and some people were acting like it was the end of the world.  I actually kept my cool until a point where we had been standing there FOREVER with our bikes, and a new ferry came and the guy was letting all of the people without bikes, who had been standing there for 5 minutes, pass us to get on first.   I started losing my cool a little bit in that moment because we had been waiting for so long and we were soo wet.  I was also hungry.  And wet.  And cold. Did I mention the wet part?  But I held it together  I managed to find a heater inside and stood right in front of it.  Who cares about the rest of the sad, wet souls on the ferry?  Not this girl.  I was keeping the heater for myself.

(Technically everyone else chose to sit instead of stand, and weren’t 8 feet tall like me, so they couldn’t have reached the heater anyway.  For once my height was a perk!)

I am not 100% certain but I am pretty sure the rain stopped right about the time that the ferry pulled away from Sausalito.  Once we were back at the Wharf, we returned our bikes, and stopped in a few stores around Union Square to find new clothes for Dave because he was wearing the only warm clothes he brought with him, which were now soaked.  We also stopped by a pizza place for a personal pizza to go so we could have a snack to hold us over until we could get changed and get to a real restaurant for dinner.

For some reason we didn’t manage to take any pictures of our complete soakedness.  However, within about 15 minutes of returning to the hotel room, we were dressed and ready to head out for dinner.  You couldn’t even tell I had just been soaked to the bone.

 

Dave found a recommendation for a french place on Yelp called Cafe Claude.  It turned out it was also in an alley like the place we’d went the night before.  And this time we sat outside.  The food was delicious and the setting was fantastic.  We just don’t have places to eat like that in L.A.  (little alleys that take you right back to Europe).  At least not that I know about, and according to the lady at the table next to me, who had about 30 years on me, L.A. doesn’t have places like that.  So there you have it

 

Next up, our trip to Napa for the wine train, and hike in Muir Woods

 

 

Long Overdue: San Francisco Part I- We Went to Jail.

I have wanted to go to San Francisco for years and just never made it out there.  How could anyone not want to visit the Tanner family’s hometown?

I found this picture of random strangers online, because I didn’t actually visit this famous street.  But pretty much everyone should remember this from the opening credits of Full House, and you might even be singing, “everywhere you look, everywhere you looook..” right now.  I know I am.  In my attempt to find a decent picture of that street to post here, I came across something awesome.  Apparently it is widely believed that the Tanners lived in one of these houses, but they didn’t.  Apparently some people believe it is one of the biggest myths in our culture.  Check out that link, the post is hilarious.  So apparently the Tanners did not actually live in one of these houses, but liked to picnic on the lawn across the street.  Consider yourselves informed people.

Anyway… So finally, Memorial Day weekend, I was still dating the guy from the Catalina trip, Dave, (still am), and we decided to go together.  We booked a hotel, and we were off.  We decided to drive because we had plans to go to Napa and the Muir Woods, so we figured it made the most sense to just bring one of our cars.

Our drive up was very uneventful–no trauma like I had experienced with Meghan.  When we arrived we checked in at our hotel, The Sir Francis Drake.  The hotel was beautiful, the location was fantastic, the staff were amazing.  However, two complaints: this is a historic hotel, so the walls are PAPER THIN.  Expect to hear every word your neighbors say.  We did.  Also, valet parking is like $60/day (?!).  So don’t bring your car… or park it somewhere else.  We ended up just parking there because we got a great rate on the hotel ($150/night), and didn’t know what else to do.  But I still feel a little bitter about it.  REALLY, Sir Francis?  REALLY?!  On the bright side, an awesome doorman in the kind of doorman suits I’ve only seen on movies and in NYC helped us with our bags from the car.  Almost made it worth it.  Almost.

The first afternoon/night was pretty relaxing.  We just walked around Union Square for some shopping, and then found a little pub to sit down and have an appetizer while we tried to figure out what to do for dinner.  We found several recommendations on Yelp, but when we walked to the restaurants they were empty.  I’m just not a big fan of being the only couple in a restaurant.  I always feel awkward like we’re not supposed to be there.  So Dave kept looking, and eventually found a recommendation for a tapas place.  It turned out it was on this cute little alley/street that was very reminiscent of Europe.  There were several restaurants on the street, but we went to B44 for tapas.  The restaurant looked cool inside, it was packed, and the food was delicious.  Perfecto.

Deep thoughts in the Pub... What to have for dinner? ... Hmmm...

How about a little slice of Europe in San Francisco? Yes, I think that will do.

Where are we? I hope they still take American dollars here!

Mmmm... Spanish tapas <3

The next morning we had reservations for a ferry ride to Alcatraz.  We originally planned to take the trolley down to Fisherman’s Wharf, but we started walking, originally to find a Starbucks without such a ridiculously long line, and we didn’t see another Starbucks until we ultimately reached the Wharf.  Of course, we had decided to just walk the whole way anyway long before we ultimately made it down there.  Choosing to walk to the Wharf is something you really have to commit to because GOOD LORD those hills are HILLY.   But the views at each intersection were amazing.

And as a result of walking we happened to walk past the famous crooked street.

Down at the Wharf we found a great little place to have breakfast called Pergamino (I just used google maps to “walk” down the streets of San Francisco to figure that out.  Yayyy technology!).  We sat at a table outside, and the waiter was great.  I had the smoked turkey omelette.   Let me tell you, it was a party in my mouth.  My mouth is watering right now just thinking about it.  I can’t remember what Dave had but it was also delicious.  They also let you pick out your own mug to use for coffee and have a ton of different kinds to choose from.  I don’t remember which coffee we chose, but it was also delicious.  If you go to SF, go there.  Do it.  I hear all the food is awesome.

Dave's mug choice. That's right... He's mine ladies

Afterward, we started walking down to the actual wharf to get down to the pier where we would catch the ferry to Alcatraz.  We had plenty of time when we started, but we made a few stops for Dave to buy sunglasses, and me to buy a sweatshirt in case the ferry ride was cold.  That sweatshirt would come in very handy later in the day, but that’s a story for another post  Due to our shopping detours, suddenly we realized we only had about 10 minutes until our ferry was supposed to depart, and had to RUN down the street quite a ways to make it.  We were at Pier 47 and our ferry left from just past Pier 35 which may not sound far, but it sure felt far, especially given that I hadn’t worked out in… who knows how long.  Not fair that my military boyfriend is forced to stay in shape and left me in the dust.  But alas, we made it.  I made it, huffing and puffing, but I made it.

Pulling away from the pier.

The ferry ride was beautiful.  You can see all of downtown and the golden gate bridge, and lots of sailboats out and about.  I was snapping pictures like crazy with my iPhone. Somehow we both forgot to bring real cameras, but the pics from my iPhone tend to turn out pretty good as long as I don’t need zoom and there is plenty of light.

Approaching "The Rock" aka Alcatraz.

On Alcatraz Island, you have to walk up some fairly steep switchbacks to get to the prison and take the self-guided tour (you get headphones that tell you interesting facts while you walk along.. is that still “self-guided”? I don’t know).  The tour was really interesting and highly recommended.  Before going, I would recommend watching Clint Eastwood’s “Escape from Alcatraz.”   It was filmed at Alcatraz shortly after it was shut down, and is based on a true escape story.

Even if history and prisons aren’t your thing, it’s still worth it just because it’s a fun little island to explore and the views are amazing.  Apparently the hardest of hard criminals got sent there.  Maybe the ocean view would suck if you knew everyday it was that pesky ocean trapping you on the island forever, but in my mind I was like “this wouldn’t be a bad place to be locked up.”  Except for the part where I was too tall for the prison cells.  It would get annoying having to duck all the time

After returning from Alcatraz, we rented bikes and went on what turned out to be a fairly epic bike ride.  But that is a story for another day!  In separate posts, I also plan to recap our bike ride, our trip to Muir Woods, and our Napa Valley Wine Train ride.  Stay tuned