A Few Months

Goodness gracious our lives seem to get away from us sometimes! The last few months have certainly been good to us. We've had a good few months, and I am so glad for that. I'll try and go through the things that we've done the last few months, since I've seemingly missed a few months.

We had a very good August. The first week Tim and I took a five day trip to Traverse City, Michigan to visit Tim's GiGi. We arrived just in time to be with her for Chris' anniversary and we spent the next few days relaxing and spending quality time with her since it had been too long since we had seen her. It was a wonderful long weekend because she is such a gracious host, and because she loves us so much. It was nice just to be with her and take care of her for a little while. We missed her so much, and we still do. My mom's one year anniversary was on August 31st, which was a day of sadness for us, but we all got through it. We also moved into a new apartment at the end of August and we dealt with a few car issues (mine) and got things sorted out. It was a good thing since we were able to get a good head on our shoulders. We also got things moving for the next year and plans for next year.

September was a pretty good month for us too. I turned 26, Tim and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary, and it was an overall good month. Not a lot of other things happened during that month, but we've been working hard at paying down our debt and budgeting for the next few years, including getting me a new car, amongst other things.

October and November were much the same as September, minus the anniversaries and birthdays. Our lives are keeping things moving and we are feeling good about where things are at. I don't know if I mentioned it but we totally paid off one of our loans earlier this year, so we have been planning to pay off the other by Tim's birthday next year. The last few months we had been noticing that while we're paying more than the minimums, the excess was NOT being put towards the principle like it should have been. Instead it was being put towards the interest, and that made us pretty angry. So we just paid the whole thing off a few months before. It made our budget tight for a few months but it was worth it.

For Thanksgiving, my dad and brother came to visit us for the holiday. We had a great time, and the weather was just perfect for them! We had a good meal on Thanksgiving and we went to the Mall of America on Saturday just to have a little fun. I think they had a good time. I know I certainly did. It was really great to see them and reconnect, so I think it was fully worth it.

David liked that there was an amusement park inside the Mall of America. We got some tickets to go on one of the roller coasters there. It was surprisingly fun and we had a great time on the ride. It was quite short but entirely worth every penny. It made for a good story to tell. And so that was our holiday. It was the best days I've had personally in a long time.

So that's what we've been up to.

Browsing

Today Tim and I went to Hopkins for a little day trip. Hopkins is a small little town a few miles north of us. I work in the area there now (after quitting my job in Richfield) and I noticed there were several nice looking antique stores on Main St running through Hopkins. This week in Hopkins there is something going on called the Raspberry Festival, so we decided to go check it out.

We parked our car and headed towards the police barricaded pedestrian mall set up for the festival, and saw some local art stuffs, and walked into two or three nice shops with all sorts of interesting antiques. It was just lovely and wonderful to walk around and see things that I'd only ever really heard about, like Uranium/Vaseline glass and various Soviet pieces or old presidential campaign buttons, fliers, pennants, etc.

We had some fun browsing and just dreaming about the future, in that one day we'll be successful enough to be able to a) live our lives happy and free and clear, b) pay our bills and c) perhaps one day afford something cool like they have at antique shops. It was the first time I've ever really BEEN in an antique store, so I was transfixed by all the things in there. Old, beautiful jewelry, buttons (for clothes) and old books, tablecloths and beautiful, gorgeous metal advertising posters and furniture. I think it's just awesome.

I had a really good time there. It was nice to do something that was different for us, but at the same time, is close to home without being 'home.' Life is good.

Honeymooners

We got back on Sunday from our honeymoon. I know, I know we've been married for two and a half years, so it isn't really considered a "honeymoon" but we haven't gone on vacation together since we got married due to not having money.

So anyway. We went to San Francisco, California. I've never been to California before, and Tim was born in Santa Barbara, so we went to a place that neither of us had been. The build-up to the trip was almost as fun as the trip itself. Several weeks ago, we bought a Lonely Planet San Francisco and started paging through it in order to figure out what we wanted to do.

Right away on the list was Muir Woods and Alcatraz, as well as Lombard Street.

Our hotel was about three blocks from Pier 39 and the Fisherman's Wharf. We were really lucky that we stayed there, because we got to walk just about everywhere. We took a hike (really) up to Russian and Nob Hills, which features 45° hills or greater. In the early mornings we would get up and walk down to the Pier to see the sea lion. It was better in the morning. The Sea Lions were often more vocal and more playful than later in the day. We had some babies there who were very sweet, at least from far off. Unfortunately, the Sea Lion in general is a mean animal, and I could tell that from just watching them fight and biting at each other.

We took a ride on the Trolley up the "Rice A Roni" hill and then dropped us off downtown by Union Square. We saw some cute local artists' stuff, saw a few cute galleries and found some new artists that we like. While we were touring the pretty city, we had a two day pass for the Hop On, Hop Off bus tour, which takes us around all areas of the city and places of interest. We saw the Presidio, which is in a lot of famous movies, and a couple streets used in movies for street chases like in Bullitt and The Rock. We saw Mel's Diner on the corner (From American Graffiti) and the place where George Lucas started a school for people in the business of graphics and CGI so he can get them for his movies. It's actually a really beautiful campus, and the only reason we knew it was George Lucas' was when we passed a fountain the middle of the campus with a little Yoda guy on it.

On that same trip we went to the Haight-Ashbury area. It was one of the crazy awesome places that was huge in the 60s and it was basically where the Hippie Movement started. We had a lot of fun just walking around and checking out the stores there, and the local artists. Tim and I bought a beautiful glass bowl and a dragonfly window hanging. We ate lunch at a great local Thai place, and the strangest thing that happened was that some locals asked us if we had any 'bud' and when we said no, they asked us if we had any spare change they could use to buy some. It made me laugh.

Chinatown as also one of those places that I enjoyed. Turns out the first time we went to Chinatown, we were on the WRONG SIDE of the street. Grant Street is cut in half by Clay, and we were on the "working people's/I live here" side of the street. We went to Chinatown again and somehow ended up on the "Right Side" and had a blast looking at the things they had for sale. While in Chinatown we bought some Strainer Teacups, and a Sake set. Also, Tim bought The World. The World is a marble globe that will sit on his desk. It is cute. When we got it home he took it out and sang "I've got the Whole World in my Hands." I thought it was cute, anyway.

The strainer cups have a little ceramic strainer that you put in the cup before you add the water and the tea. You throw in your loose tea, and pour boiling water over it and let it steep in the cup and then pull out the strainer -- VOILA. Tea. We have not used them yet but they are currently sitting pretty on our kitchen table.

Speaking of Tea, we found a very cute little tea house in Ghiradelli Square, called Crown and Crumpet. They sell very awesome loose leaf tea. We bought some Grapefruit Green (Green Tea and Grapefruit pieces) and Paris Black (Earl Grey with vanilla). The Grapefruit Green is really awesome -- I had a pot of it and I was bouncing off the walls feeling amazing. Green Tea has always done that to me, so I wasn't surprised. A little sugar and you're all set to go. Paris Black, when steeped and is temperate enough to drink, has a very light taste of vanilla. It's actually quite delicious.

Another thing the San Fran area is known for is red/rosewood, and there are a lot of pretty bowls and things made of these gorgeous, natural materials. We found a man who made some things out of redwood. I decided that I wanted a pair of handcrafted knitting needles, so I got one. The ones I got are a dark rosewood, and have nicely carved ends with nice and sharp-but-not-breakable points. They don't have an official size, but I think they will knit up with a little drape but pretty tightly. I'm ok with that, and I'll plan on knitting with them soon, once I find some yarn nice enough to do it.

I haven't talked much about the food we ate there, but now I will. :) One thing I found out about San Francisco right away is that they have a lot of seafood. I'm lucky because I *LOVE* seafood. I love fish, crab, lobster and just about anything that comes out of the sea except for eel and sea urchin (both of which I've eaten). One of our first meals was at a place on the Wharf called Alioto's. I ordered the fish and chips and while that sounds very Chip-Shop, wrapped in blank newsprint, it was not your Grandma's fish and chips.

The fish was light and perfectly cooked, and did not taste too fishy, which is always ok in my book. They served it with homemade fishsauce, which was probably a light mayonnaise and dill, amongst other flavors. It brought out the taste and texture of the fish perfectly and I spent most of the meal gobbling down my fish and making moany noises to denote my satisfaction. Looking out from our table we saw the Golden Gate Bridge and looked out into the ocean. It was the perfect view.

We went to Fisherman's Pizzeria one night, a slew of Italian restaurants a few other nights, the stand-out best one of which was Firenze by Night. The restaurant was a bit of a jaunt from our hotel (about 5-10 blocks) but definitely worth the walk. The food was delicious, atmosphere was fantastic (soft music, low fairy-light lighting, pictures of Florence, Italy and the Duomo looking out at the diners) and they made the best Peach Sorbet I have probably ever had. Sorbet can sometimes be too icy/crystallized, but this was the best consistency I could have dreamed of.

The Fog Harbor Fish House was another restaurant recommended to us by one of the concierges in the hotel. Tim wanted to eat beef and I was taking advantage of the fish availability, and this place was one of the few not-Hard Rock Cafe/Rainforest Cafe places we could go for a nice dinner without being overrun by tourists. It was on Pier 39, overlooking the Bay. I ordered some crab cakes and some french fries. The crab cakes? Divine. They were not all stuffing with no crab. They were the perfect mix of stuffing and crab, not to mention perfectly cooked. Tim's steak was also very good and wonderfully cooked as well. We had house cocktails and after dinner drank a cup of very good coffee, finishing up just as the sun was setting (we ran to the end of the pier by the Sea Lions to get some pictures of the sun going down by the Gate and over the Alcatraz island) and walked home to the hotel.

Some of the restaurants we chose (or were recommended) were not as good as we hoped they'd be, but overall we were very pleased with our food choices and the restaurants that we went to. I miss having the availability of good, fresh seafood and other options. I'm not good enough of a cook to make some of the stuff I ate.

This is getting long enough, so I'll sign off here. I've posted some pictures on Facebook and maybe will post some here in the near future.