Weekend in San Francisco

Did I mention we didn't bring our kids? That's right - for the first time EVER since having kids (that's 5 1/2 years) Brett and I went away for the weekend by ourselves. It was awesome! Since the weather was rainy, we decided San Francisco would be a good destination, since there is still plenty to do even though you can't be outside. Our first stop, and by far the highlight of our weekend, was the farmer's market at the Ferry building. If you are ever in San Francisco and you like to eat, you MUST go here! Outside they have the traditional farmer's market set up with all kinds of wonderful in-season fruits and veggies, and inside they have tons of other vendors selling fresh, locally made meats, cheeses, coffee, breads, pastries... it was unbelievable.
My first stop was a Chinese tea shop where they had tons of different unique teas for sale. The lady at the counter was extremely helpful when I asked her about green teas, and even brewed me up a cup without burning it, a feat that it seems even Peet's coffee employees can't master.

I'm tempted to say that Brett was the only one who liked our next stop, but I was just as excited about the "tasty salted pig parts" as he was. We bought a cup of meat. It is literally a cup filled up with meat. Fresh cured meat that was grown and "harvested" locally and cured right there in the little shop. Yum.

I think we went into every little shop at least twice - we were in some sort of locally-grown food heaven. I don't know why, but I was really excited about this display of lettuce and books - two of my favorite things! Together! If there had been an adjacent fabric display I might not have been able to pull myself away.

Another highlight of the trip was Pier 23 Cafe's crab and shrimp sandwich. It takes a lot to get me to eat a mayonaise-laden sandwich on buttered toasted bread covered in french fries (especially after being romanced by a lettuce display) but this did the trick. This sucker is GOOD. So if you are ever in the vicinity of the Ferry building and somehow have room in your stomach after sampling all it has to offer, walk south and get this for yourself.

We stayed at the W hotel, which I wasn't able to get any good pictures of, but is really swanky with bright pink and turquoise accents and orchids everywhere and 3D floral pictures in the elevators and a pet menu in the room where you can order your dog a $20 steak in the middle of the night. To be honest, I felt a bit out of my element there, even though I was wearing my tall black boots and lots of eye makeup. Neither of us slept very well because we aren't used to having down pillows or a down feather bed, so we both woke up with sore backs wishing we had slept on our good ol' couch bed with our crappy Target pillows instead. Ironic, isn't it? We actually got a pretty good laugh about it this morning - I mean, we sleep on a COUCH BED in the living room, and the W sells their mattresses and pillows via a catalogue in every hotel room. So, we decided that the next time we take a weekend to ourselves, we'll spend the day out and sleep at home where we can wake up to our own stuff. And save a bunch of money.

Of course, I am not complaining! It was a great weekend, full of lots of rest, eating good food and laughing together about non-kid-related things. I didn't have to feed anyone or wipe juice off anything or get boogers on my clothes for a full 24 hours. It was great. But after breakfast this morning when we were deciding what to do next, we looked at each other and said at the same time "Let's get our kids." So we came home early to our wonderful life feeling rested and grateful that this is what we get to do every day.

Ashland!!!

Well, Ashland is as wonderful as it ever was. I had a SUPER relaxing weekend with my aunts and cousins and took full advantage of the fact that I had NO responsibilities! We stayed at the Siskiyou House, which is an old and gorgeous brick home that the owners have decorated perfectly and filled with all kinds of comfy chairs, extra fluffy white towels, and huge white feather beds. It was so cozy and perfect. We did all the things I love to do - work on our sewing projects together, sing old songs, play board games, walk around the park, tell funny stories... it was very therapeutic and I feel totally refreshed.I definitely recommend renting this house if you are in the market for a vacation home in southern Oregon. This is the third house we've rented in Ashland and it was by far the best. The owners were SO nice and even encouraged us to use the fresh basil from their garden!
The house was located within walking distance of all the downtown shops as well as the park, so I'm hoping that I did enough physical activity to walk off all the fudge I kept eating (yeah right!). I did a lot of shopping and found a wonderful little fabric store, where I bought myself a big project... more on that later.

I did miss my boys, though, and it is very nice to be back. Moses seems so much taller since I left and I was only gone for 4 days!

Back from So-Cal

Our trip down south (and, might I mention, our first real trip anywhere in the last 3 years) was a huge success. Traveling with a toddler who has an early bedtime made us rethink our usual stay-in-a-junky-hotel-because-we'll-only-be-there-to-sleep strategy, so we shelled out a bit more cash to stay in nicer two-room suites. And MAN, was it worth it! We lead a pretty humble existence up here on the farm - we only have one bedroom (yes, the 2 year old shares a room with us), don't have cable, and do what needs to be done to fit three people's schedules into one bathroom. So imagine our collective joy when we entered our first hotel room in Santa Barbara: two bedrooms, two bathrooms, large kitchen, and a flat screen TV with CABLE!!! Holy cow - if the beach hadn't been 100 feet away I think we may have just locked ourselves in there for a week.
The great thing about Santa Barbara is that you can pretty much walk anywhere you need to go. We walked to the beach and Moses got to fulfill his long-time dream of "putting his tummy in the sand," then walked up the road to dinner. It was great. 
The whole point of our trip, however, was not to stay in luxurious hotels, but to attend my brother Daniel's graduation from San Diego State University. So we continued on to San Diego and managed to fit in a trip to the zoo (in the rain, incidentally, but it was still fun) before the ceremony. Daniel hadn't told us this, but he was graduating not only with honors, but as the "most outstanding student" in the philosophy department, so instead of sitting amidst the sea of other graduates, he was up on stage with the faculty. That was really cool and we're totally proud of him. And, except for screaming out "PENIS" in the middle of the ceremony (he was explaining what would eventually happen to the crackers he was eating - you can figure it out), Moses did really well through the entire thing. The whole trip was a success and a much-needed break from daily life. It's nice to be back - lots of laundry and cleaning up to be done, no more Discovery channel, and back to sharing the room with a toddler, but it's still home. :)