the brunch club goes orange

i must say, the rest of my week in chicago was just as fantastic as the first half! unfortunately, work has kept me so busy since i've returned, that i haven't had much time to write about it!

i was thrilled to be in town for the august brunch club gathering, and have finally found some time to post my review of orange.

check out other reviews, and stay tuned for future chicago brunch club appearances!

so far, so great!

three days and four nights in chicago (so far) equals:

• workday breaks and lunches spent catching up with friends and coworkers
• wonderful evenings at my parent's house, conversations with my brothers on the updates in their lives, and fun times resulting in very little sleep each night
• quality time with my bff (complete with lattes, cake and the best of conversations)
• dinner with mark's dad and sister at a tried-and-true favorite, where we also got to celebrate leslie's first day at a fantastic new job!

looking forward to what the rest of the week has to offer :)

a running tour of san francisco

in an effort to keep make my training a bit more fun, and to keep me motivated through a recent 15 mile run, i decided to take a trip into san francisco. i figured that the scenery and tourists would make the afternoon interesting, and i could focus on the sights of the city rather than any aches and pains. after all, i had never run more than 13 miles at that point

my plan was to park on the marin side of the golden gate bridge, head into the city, run past the marina, along the embarcadero, and all the way to the bay bridge. (at that point, of course, i'd turn around and head all. the. way back.)

as i started to make my way along the path on that surprisingly sunny and clear saturday afternoon, i pulled my cell phone out to snap a picture of the gorgeous view. and thus began my photo documentation of my running tour through san francisco:

city view from the golden gate bridge

golden gate bridge from s.f., after running across it

alcatraz

the palace of fine arts

ghirardelli square

powell & hyde cable car

pier 39

fisherman's wharf

world trade center on embarcadero

downtown

the bay bridge

marina

the stairs i had to climb before crossing back over golden gate. i definitely hurt by this point, but it was an enjoyable day, and so much fun to know that i'd get to share these with all of you!

quality friday: enjoying friends, old and new

mark and i have been having a great time exploring the bay area together. we've enjoyed discovering new things to spark our interests, and taking advantage of the beauty of northern california.

in all that we've done, one thing that we have missed dearly are the moments spent with wonderful friends. we still don't know many people in the area, and miss the interaction with friends - from the lack of coffee dates and to poker nights, we feel the void.

last week, vlada and michal, my dear college roommate and her husband-to-be, invited us to a bbq at their home. they both have many friends - from college, previous jobs, and current endeavors - who are new to the area, and thought it would be fun to get us all together to meet one another.

these two have a wonderful group of friends, and we had so much fun getting to know new people, thanks to our gracious hosts. we hit it off quickly with a number of them, and mark even got in on a poker game the following tuesday night, thanks to these new connections!

we really appreciate you introducing us to some new friends in the bay area, vlada and michal. but more importantly, thanks for being so awesome yourselves! can't wait to celebrate with you at your wedding in a few short weeks!

audrey, mark, vlada and michal

a taste of chicago

mmmmmm, chicago style stuffed pizza. one of the most enjoyable foods that the windy city has to offer...and one that we miss dearly.

last weekend, after an afternoon of walking, we headed into east bay to try a local pizza legend, zachary's, rumored to have "deep dish that's the best this side of the mississippi".

the restaurant was packed for a sunday night, with the wait at about 45 to 50 minutes for a table in the tiny and extremely crowded dining area. people stood shoulder to shoulder in the entry way, spilling out onto the sidewalk surrounding the restaurant, all eager to enjoy what we were hoping would even slightly resemble good pizza.

thankfully the management had the good sense to understand that once seated, hungry tummy's don't want to wait through the additional half-hour for baking time. we were offered the opportunity to order our pizza's ahead of time (excellent option!), and we waited in anticipation.

once seated, mark quickly received his sausage-pepperoni-and-extra-cheese-with-anchovies-on-the-side pizza, and i, zachary's "pride and joy" spinach and mushroom combination, stuffed into a whole wheat crust.

we dug in. and what we tasted was a little piece of home.

it was authentic, i tell you. even mark - a tough critic of stuffed pizza - thought it was delicious! we agreed that the original crust most closely resembles that of giordano's- our favorite deep dish in chicago.

we left that night with lots of leftovers, full to the brim, extremely content, and proud that "chicago style" has made a name for itself on the west coast.

quality friday: giving thanks

this week started with some worry and concern. as we do around the beginning of every month, we organized ourselves by scheduling bill payments and reviewing our finances, and at that point began to fully realize the impact of mark not having yet found a job.

the search has been a tough one. mark's intent to focus on finishing his degree has led to quite a full school schedule for the fall along with the realization that daytime classes narrow his work options considerably.

as we talked and worked through the various scenarios and options, we were struck by the reality that God has always faithfully provided for us, and that we truly have so much to be thankful for. we have our health, as does our family, we have a beautiful home to live in, many wonderful friends, and we truly aren't in need of anything.

so we made sure to remember our blessings with each meal that we shared this week - something that i'm ashamed to say, we don't always do. and as we took turns giving thanks to God for all that He has done in our lives, we found ourselves more fully reassured that, once again, all would be well. it always is.

today we have just one more thing to be thankful for. yesterday, in a matter of hours, mark found his first job! though a search of job postings on his school's website, and found a prep chef position available at a local catering company. he quickly called them, had an interview within two hours, and came home with his first assignment this saturday - a wedding in napa!

mark is thrilled for the opportunity to use his culinary skills again, and for the flexible schedule that this job has to offer. and we are, again, thankful for God's constant hand in our lives.

tree huggers

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.

- John Muir

ah, the beauty of the pacific northwest.

northern california is considered one of the most amazing places in the country to live. not only is it home to a major metropolitan city, bursting with things to do, but it boasts accessibility to wine country, ocean wildlife, ski resorts and national parks.

one of the closest national monuments to the bay area, muir woods, is located just 12 miles north of the golden gate bridge. as we headed to see it on sunday, we were struck by the serenity of the secluded area surrounding the woods. miles of steep, narrow, winding road lead us through the marin headland hills to the woods. the terrain clearly explained why redwood canyon escaped the mass-logging to support the gold rush of the late 1800's - its steep and inaccessible slopes.

once in the woods, we were met with fresh, cool air, a light misty rain, lush green vegetation, and hundreds of ancient redwood trees towering above us. we truly enjoyed an afternoon of strolling the trails, searching the streams for varieties of salmon, and simply admiring the beauty of God's creation.

an amazing life: 909 AD - 1930

look how HUGE it is!

this cracked me up! with the enormous redwood behind him, mark is hugging a sapling, by comparison:)

painting the town red

okay, okay. so maybe it was just a wall in a room:)

we decided to take advantage of being allowed to paint an accent wall, and here are the results from two weekends ago:

starting the job out

did i say red? i meant pink.

just kidding - priming done!

silliness before the real work began

coat number 1 - working really hard to cover the "a heart m". we were worried for a while that it would permanently show through!

coat number 2 - almost done!

our freshly painted living room, complete with a new couch set that mark's dad so kindly purchased for us as a house-warming gift!

we're still in need of curtains and pictures on the wall, but its definitely the start of a comfy living room!

quality friday: reminiscing

last week i got to spend a few days in chicago - my first trip back since we've moved out to the sf bay area:) it was great to have a little bit of time to spend with friends and family, and i certainly appreciated being able to head back so soon after leaving.

many times, when my family sits down to enjoy dinner, our conversation seems to find its way back to our early childhood years, and we spend hours laughing about the funny things that we did. dinner on thursday night was no different, and here are a few of the memories we laughed about together:

• brandon (longarm), jonathan (bowser) and i (mainframe), reenacting scenes from "c.o.p.s.", would use our bunk beds as the station, and swing feet first in, nearly kicking each other (or hurting ourselves) with each "police call"
• dressed as wonder woman, and using my magic lasso (remember the gold rope used to tie marshall fields gift boxes?), i was convinced i could get brandon to tell me the truth. favorite question? "who is your faaaather?"
• playing clue master detective EVERY SINGLE day - and hating it when jonathan would play because he always gave up the confidential file!
• making "food" for our restaurant out of play-doh, and then baking it in the oven (with mom, of course) so it would keep its shape. we had burgers, fries, eggs, bacon - anything you could ever want to order from us!
• the constant mess we would make in the living room and dining room as we pulled every cushion off the couch to avoid walking in the water (i.e. touching the carpet), and as we pulled chairs into the correct configuration for a tent, when covered with a sheet

keeping with the memorable conversations of dinner, we cleared the table and set up for a game of scrabble - the same set we have played for years! boy, did we play that game often...and always with a big bowl of homemade popcorn next to us (and a glass of orange juice - still love my popcorn with oj:)

we also got to celebrate daniel's SEVENTEENTH birthday!!! i can hardly believe that my baby brother is so grown up. i distinctly remember holding him in the hospital the day he was born....and getting to name him (after my doll, baby daniel) . it was a consolation for not getting the baby sister that my parents promised me:)

happy birthday, daniel! hope you had a wonderful day yesterday!

tagged

i've been tagged three times this week - wait, four - so i guess i'm it now!

here are 8 random habits or facts about myself...

1. [fact] i used to hate cats. when i would see them, i'd say mean things, like "let's go step on that one". i now love them dearly. when a tiny little kitten named max cuddled in my arms for the first time, i saw the light.

2. [habit] i frequently find myself either sitting on my hands or putting them between my legs when i sit or sleep. i think its to keep me warm.

3. [fact] the last time i threw up was my freshman year in high school. it was an awful and embarassing experience, and as a result, i wonder if i've subconsciously prevented myself from doing so after that.

4. [fact] the very first movie i ever went to see in a movie theater was "ghost". i was in 6th grade.

5. [fact] my left eyelid droops a little more than my right. makes for some an attractive look in photos - and when i'm sleepy - if i'm not careful!

6. [habit] i always finish eating my fortune cookie before i read the fortune.

7. [habit] i can fall asleep almost anywhere. on the phone, at the movies, at the dinner table in a restaurant, and any time i'm in a car. while driving is definitely the most dangerous of these scenarios. i can have the windows down with cold air rushing in, the a/c blowing at me on high, have the radio on full blast, and be nibbling on food, but still struggle to keep my head from nodding and my eyes from closing. bad. very.very.bad.

8. [fact] there was in "i hate audrey club" (ihac) at my grade school. i guess i took 'teacher's pet' to a whole new level.

or maybe that explains why i don't have eight more people to tag..... ;)