saturday mornings are for shopping

the local farmer's market has a wonderful assortment of fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers and fish, hand-made goods, home-made jams and jellies, along with live music and food vendors, including the best hot links mark has had in california!

plums, white peaches and nectarines - amazingly sweet and juicy!

we've found it to be the perfect way to start the weekend!

quality friday: one lap at a time

sooooo, i may or may not have a fear of water. or maybe its actually a fear of drowning? either way you look at it, the bottom line is that i'm not at all comfortable with swimming, a fact that i absolutely hate. when we were on our anniversary trip to jamaica, i desperately wanted to cliff-dive until mark reminded me that i would be plummeting close to 20 feet into the water and would have to swim to the surface. not cool.

on occasion over the past few years, i've tried to learn to swim, attempted to understand the concept of treading water, and fought to keep myself calm rather than panic when my feet didn't touch the ground in a pool. i haven't gotten very far.

living in sunny california with a fairly large pool just yards away, i now have a place to practice being a fish more regularly. figuring out how to breath in the water has been a challenge (i admit that i usually keep my face completely above water) and i also tend to default to the backstroke for that very reason. i've progressed over the past few sessions, starting each lap on my stomach, and flipping over to my back with less and less distance left to finish.

i'm proud to say that earlier this week, i actually finished an entire lap without stopping, giving up, or most importantly, breathing in any water. what do you think? maybe in a few years i'll be ready to try a triathlon?

discovering wine country

Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life's most civilized pleasures.

- Michael Broadbent

in the three weeks we have lived in the north bay, we have already visited napa three times. on a whim during our first week here, we jumped in the car at 4:30pm and headed 12 miles up the road (i know, its a tough life being so close to this fabulous location) in an attempt to get dinner and perhaps, try some wine. what we learned when we stopped at the wine tasting and concierge service in downtown napa, is that wineries and vineyards keep normal business hours, and were consequently already closed. although we were disappointed, the trip was not completely in vain. upon expressing that we had never wine tasted before but that we were eager to learn, we were presented with a wine tasting guide as our "homework", and invited to come back soon.

the following sunday, we did just that. wit a brand new journal in hand, and began our tour of the downtown wine bars at that same shop, where we discovered what promises be a new hobby! if truth be told, neither mark nor i was sure that we would actually like wine tasting, but we were excited to try something new and found ourselves absolutely loving it! taking the time to appreciate the many dimensions of wine - to study its clarity and aromas, to learn that the complexity of flavors tells a unique story - was fascinating. my favorite of the day was goosecross 2006 chenin blanc - slightly sweet a first, and the perfect compliment to cheese and fruit. a close second was girard 2003 artistry - a delightfully complex red blend.

we made only one more stop that day, where mark found his favorite wine - mandolin 2006 pinot noir - of which we've already enjoyed two bottles!

our most recent visit to napa was during mark's dad, norman's, visit this past saturday. nancy hawkes miller, of goosecross cellars, teaches a wonderful wine basics class, which we found incredibly insightful, and i recommend to everyone - whether you are new to wine tasting or would simply enjoy learning a bit more about viticulture. norman described the merlot we studied as "the smoothest" he has ever tasted, and we found the chardonnay to be unusually fruity and crisp, a signature combination of winemaker geoff gorsuch.

in front of rows of cabernet

an additional note: if ever visiting napa, we highly recommend stopping for a bite to eat at buckhorn grill, where the tri-tip sandwiches are absolutely delicious!

hitting the hills

not quite san francisco - thankfully - but hills nonetheless!

after two weeks of training solely on a treadmill (and nearly crying of boredom for distances longer than 4 miles), i finally ventured out of our fitness center and into the surrounding neighborhood for my weekly "long runs".

the route i took last weekend had a total climb of 473 feet - luckily it was uphill on the way out, and downhill heading back, or i may not have made it home! this past sunday called for twelve miles, so i did the first five on the treadmill, and then headed back out to give it a go again. oy, was it difficult, and my muscles can still feel it! to be perfectly honest, this path is less hilly that many of the roads around me, so it'll be my standard until a feel a bit more adventurous.

let's hope that more of these long runs will build endurance, and make race day a breeze in october!

quality friday: all done!

the highlight of last week was DEFINITELY late thursday night when we finished unpacking our last box in preparation for mark's dad's arrival on friday - the very first visitor in our new home!

the week was a flurry of activities that included an extremely busy work week for me, with each l.o.n.g day followed by an even more exhausting evening of unpacking boxes, arranging and putting away endless items, and shopping for accessories for the guest room and guest bath.

although there is certainly more work to be done, it felt like quite an accomplishment to break down that last box, and we enjoyed the fruits of our labor throughout the very relaxing weekend!

guest room/office

guest bathroom

happy belated quality friday, everyone!

quality friday: a good night's sleep?

friday marked the two week anniversary of our decision not to take our worn, six-year-old mattress and 30+ year-old box spring with us on the move out west. since then, we have slept in a number of different configurations, including my brother's bed, the floor, on a newly purchased air mattress, and lastly, for a week of me on the couch and mark on our guest room twin mattress laying next to it!

suffice it to say, our backs and necks were not thrilled with the arrangements.

we spent quite a bit to time searching for a new set when we arrived in california. we tried various stores - both furniture and mattress - brands from simmoms and sleepnumber to englander, styles from pillow top and memory foam to air/spring combinations.

after two weeks of general discomfort, every bed that we laid on provided some level of relief, but the one that stood out amongst the crowd was the tempur-pedic. after a long day on thursday, when our bodies hit the soft foam of the display and sank in, perfectly contouring our bodies, it provided instant comfort and nearly made me want to just lay there and sleep. i was still not 100% sure, but mark felt absolutely certain that the bed was exactly what we had been looking for.

figuring that quality sleep is a worthwhile investment, we splurged and purchased it, along with two of the pillows, and scheduled for a friday delivery. for two nights (and two naps), we've slept on this new bed, which still feels slightly harder than the one we tried at the store. after the first day, we were a bit disappointed, because we expected to wake up completely cured of all our previous ailments. not so. after day two, we're feeling a bit better about it - mark more so than myself - but perhaps just two nights is not sufficient time to repair weeks of discomfort?

at least we are headed in the right direction. and we have 90 days to exchange it for something else if it doesn't quite live up to our expectations. i'll keep you posted.....

leaving chicago....

the last few days in chicago were a mixture of enjoyment and sadness, as i expected. it was wonderful to spend time with my family, and we appreciated staying with them for the days before the move (and a special thanks to jonathan for giving up his room to us, and letting kate borrow the space under his bed as her hiding spot for four days), and had a wonderful dinner on monday night with mark's family.



where it really started to get difficult was just before we went to bed on monday night. jonathan was leaving for the airport to pick up his girlfriend, and came to give us hugs goodbye. my eyes started to tear, and the sadness settled in as i finished packing our things. i definitely cried myself to sleep that night.

tuesday morning was a disaster. we were up early, and one of the first things on the agenda was giving kate a sedative for the journey ahead. let me just say, the neither of us has ever sedated a cat, and we debated not doing so, given her calmness over the previous 4 days. that morning, however, she decided that she was finally comfortable with my parents house, and let me on a chase her up the basement stairs, across the house, back down, and then up again as we tried to get her into her carrier. we pretty much knew what had to be done.

10 minutes after fighting with her to take 3/4 of a tiny pill (which was supposed to take 1-2 hours to take effect), she was stumbling around and could barely stand. mark picked her up, and she started to go limp in his arms. i asked to hold her, and immediately started crying as she lay virtually lifeless in my arms. if anyone has ever experienced putting a pet to sleep, you'll understand what i mean when i say that it felt like we were loosing her. i'm sure it was a perfectly normal response to the medicine, but having never administered it before, i thought we had just killed our kitty.

i was just getting over hysterical by 6:45am when melissa and steven stopped by say good-bye, and i honestly believe that composures were kept in an effort to help calm me down. thanks to each of you for being strong for me.

saying goodbye to brandon, shruti, daniel and especially my parents as we got into melissa's car for the airport was painful, but the hugs were wonderful and warm. we tried to hold back more tears, which didn't always work. i miss all of you, already.

brave little kate, nice and calm after the flight

its hard to believe that it has been a whole week since we got on the plane for california. right now, we're just a bit tired of looking at boxes, but are settling in to our new surroundings pretty well. more move stories to follow.....

high tea and good-bye drinks

ah, another fabulous weekend for the brunch club......

on saturday, they treated me to tea at the drake hotel, where we enjoyed finger sandwiches, fruit bread and scones with cream and jam, and a delightful afternoon of conversation in the beautiful decorated palm court lounge.


megan, kjersten, melissa and emily - thank you for toasting - and kissing - me goodbye in such style!

then on sunday night, the founding members and our husbands gathered for drinks at melissa and steven's home.

mark finally got to enjoy one of melissa's famous sex-in-the-city cosmos, we congratulated the newly wedded frisks on their three weeks of marriage, and got to meet wrigley, the new addition to the jennings' household!

brunch club husbands

i have been more than blessed by these friendships, and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these ladies so well. please think of me as you enjoy your monthly saturday brunches...i'm going to miss being with you!

tears and love....audrey