Dinner Deja Vu

So last year, Nick's work gave us a gift card to a nice hotel, shop & restaurant in downtown San Francisco.  We went and had a fun time, but couldn't get reservations for the restaurant that was (literally) across the street from our hotel.  Whatever, gift cards don't expire. 

Fast forward a year, we are headed to SF to see Book of Mormon & remember the gift card.  We DO get reservations this time (wayyy in advance) & look at the menu, looks good, we're excited for a fancy meal.  Cool.

So we get there and....

N: Um?
C:  Yep.  I see it.

We'd been there before!!  How is that possible?!  We didn't eat fancy when we lived in SF! We never came down to this part of town to eat?!  But absolutely we had been there before.  And I'm pretty sure we sat at the same table. So we stayed across the street for a full weekend, looked at their website and had NO CLUE that we'd been there before.  Clearly memorable.  But it was a pretty great meal, so I'm glad we went (again).

Have you ever completely forgotten something you've done -- to be excited to do it again??

SOoooo LOOoonngggg

I complained about it a few posts back and I will again.  WHY are old movies SO LONG!??  Maybe it's because I've never taken a film class and can't appreciate the history of film or aspects that make something a top movie.  But I am glad glad glad to be done with #66: watch the top 25 movies off IMDB. 

Our final contender: Once Upon a Time in the West

I guess the "beauty" of the movie is how the director let the barrenness of the west build up - rather than just banging forward with Western violence (although that was part of it too).  And that haaaaaarmooooonica.  Hoooowwwww many times did they play that refrain. 

While I'm glad we finished this item - I've realized I've got another to ex-out.  I will never read #64. Read three classics - A Tale of Two Cities, War & Peace, Ulysses.  I accept the failure!

Any annoying lists you feel proud to have accomplished??

Illinois

We'd driven through Illinois, but never stopped to do anything!  We had ~24 hours and decided to cram in as many museums (and one good dinner!) as we could.

Shedd's Aquarium

It was a nice aquarium -- we got to see a 4D movie (they spray water at you!) and a live show with dolphins & beluga whales.  I always love the jellys & they had a special exhibit on them.

This guy was TERRIFYING.  I literally had to run away from the window - crazy crazy looking pufferfish!  I kind of have the chills posting these photos!  He was as big as a basketball and hiding in the shadows at the top of the tank with that crazy crazy face.  Yikes yikes!

Art Institute of Chicago

 We hadn't planned on going to the Art Institute, but it was part of the CityPass so we walked down early in the morning.  It was surprisingly good!  There was a big impressionist section (my favorite) & they have the American Gothic painting.  We did a quick walk through - and look at the gorgeous day outside!

Field Museum

Dinosaurs & stuffed (taxidermy) animals & gemstones!  This is Nick with Sue - the most complete T Rex ever found.  You could spend days here, but we did those three highlights before heading back to the airport.

It was a great trip!  We were tired, but felt like we really saw interesting stuff - & even learned a little!  And get to check off #92 Museums!

How scary is that pufferfish???

Utah part tre

Right, so three trips to Utah in three years might be a little excessive - but it's a nice place!! And we keep seeing different things! Don't judge...

We flew to Denver then Moab - the little city outside Arches & Canyonlands National Parks.  We didn't realize just how little it was!

This plane had <20 seats, only one on each side of the aisle.

No flight attendant, no bathroom - tiny!!

And there was no gate, no baggage claim - made Appleton's airport look huge!

 One of the view points in Arches.

I think WI has beautiful skies, but Utah gave them a run for their money this trip!

For perspective sake, can you see the person??

This "Double Arch" was cool, sharing a base.

So dramatic!

 The sandstone was called "Slickrock" - which is an accurate description!

I thought it was really slippery and was scared to climb on it much.  We have many pictures of us on the same structure: Nick standing on top, Carrie sitting 1/2 way up!

Canyonlands park

This picture might not look impressive, except for the scale! That canyon is 1000s of feet deep and that little dusty trail is the dirt road we drove on later in the day.  It was a huge park full of canyons, arches, fins, sandstone structures & a random crater!

Delicate Arch - the most famous one

We got there early so we were lucky not to have too many people in our pictures.

The best hike - 7.2mi around Devil's Garden

Not all parts of the trail were this obvious, you did have to look for little cairns (stone piles) to guide you at different places.

Landscape Arch (& sky)

Landscape is the largest in the park - as long as a football field!

A piece fell off ~20 years ago with people sitting underneath it!  No one was hurt, but you can't go there any more.

The skies to the right were very ominous - I was convinced we were going to die in a flash flood.

 You'd see a sign "Arch 0.4mi this way".  Sure, let's check it out.  Nothing, nothing, nothing - oh, hello perfectly shaped arch with a beautiful up high view of the park!

I'm not sure we've got any other places to go there, but Utah sure is great!  And we finished check #50!

What National Park should we visit next?? Any one want to come with?? (We're thinking Yellowstone or Glacier maybe...)

Veggies, veggies everywhere!

We've been talking for YEARS about wanting to grow veggies.  We've had a few feeble attempts (and a couple decent little pots of herbs) - but tried a little harder this year.  We've got a few pots with veggies in them and... it kinda worked!

VEGGIE #1

 Can you tell what this is?

 Now??

 

An awesome little yellow cherry tomato!  

We've gotten a bunch off this plant!

VEGGIE #2

 These little guys grew really well.

  

And then turned red!  Who knew??

These are Shishito Peppers - not too spicy and fairly small.

When B was out we had them at a restaurant as a yummy appetizer and have recreated it at home!

VEGGIE #3

 The bell peppers were SO CUTE when they were tiny.

 A little bigger...

 But before they turned yellow (like they were supposed to),
some got this yucky spot :(

We haven't actually eaten any yet, but I have faith this will be a check.

So we did learn a lot: pot size, need to fertilize, need to stake them better, light is important (we KILLED some of our poor lil herbs), etc.  Next year, we actually want to make raised beds in the back for even more and fancier gardening.  But let's not get crazy - let's just enjoy the checks from #38 & 40!!

Why are they SO LONG?

I consider myself pretty well versed in pop/entertainment culture.  But classics are not my strong suit - hence #66: watch top movies. 

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm a classic movie fan. 

Our latest was Seven Samurai (1954).  Let's look at the tough things about it.

In Japanese

Subtitled

In black & white

From 1954

214 minutes long 

(Did you do the math?  That's over 3 1/2 hours!!)

The guy on the right = awesome

The guy with the sword on his shoulder = insane disaster case

I looked at the things that made it so classic, and honestly a lot of things they did were the first time they were done - which would have been cool in 1954, but are common now.  And 214 minutes of subtitles is a long time.  We didn't dislike it, there was no specifically terrible part, but ... I guess I like modern movies more.  But now I can appreciate Seven Samurai references and am one step closer to a full check!

Have you ever watched a 3+ hour movie with subtitles??

The other CA alcohol

Not wine - but beer!

There are a surprising number of brewco's out here -- we had dinner at one yesterday in our neighbor city in an attempt to try new places near us (we get a little stuck-in-the-rut).

Dempsey's Restaurant & Brewery in Petaluma was a nice little dinner (fish & falafal sandwiches) on the river front. 

Beer sampler!

There was a double IPA that was 8.9% alcohol & so smooth -- a dangerous beer!

Anyone want to try it next time you're out here??

Lotta work... and almost successful!

I undertook a serious baking event this weekend -- I started on Saturday night and then worked from 830a - 3p Sunday!  Taking breaks of course (to let things freeze/rest) - but pretty consistently.

Alright, so what was this thing...

 It's hiding under there! 

That was an actual instruction: "Cover with cardboard boxes"

 Croissants!

Can you see all those little layers?? I'm so proud!

Something didn't work right with the rising process - these little guys were really dense!  But the little layers were awesome & I'm not totally opposed to trying it again some day -- they are Nick's favorite pastries and boy, oh boy, did the fresh ones smell delicious! (And I learned that you could actually do this over THREE days, making a more reasonable amount of work per day.  Just gotta plan ahead...)

#4 check!  What's the fanciest baking you've ever done??

Cornhole & Ladder Golf

Monica got to join in on one of our 101!  While she was out for the half marathon, we spent a day checking out (the wine in) Sonoma & brought a picnic lunch to Larson Family Winery.  They are super dog friendly and have fun events for pets/supporting shelters throughout the year.  (Including the oh-so-successful doggie photo shoot from two years ago.)

So the actual item says "Play Bocce" - which they do have, but you had to give them your ID, etc., and they had two games set up for free outside:  One that we know as "Cornhole" (basically a bean bag toss) & one that Monica called "Ladder Golf" - works for me!

 Lucy LOVED chasing the bean bags that we threw (poorly at the targets)

 Look at that happy/proud puppy face!

No pictures of ladder golf?? Well, we didn't take many pictures of the entire trip, so I'm not surprised.  And we all have... room for improvements! on these games.

Thanks for playing with us, Moni!  #49 CHECK!

Who wants to play Cornhole/Ladder Golf/Bocce with us!!

YAPADTs

You all know that I have a thing for

YoungAdultPostApocalypticDystopianTrilogies

So I was eager to try the "Uglies" series. 

Set in the future, people get super plastic surgery at age 16 to make them all "Pretty".  It's a big point in the plot, but something you'll see coming from - oh, basically the first chapter in the book - the surgery also changes your brain/personality.  Which of course the main characters aren't in to. 

There are some interesting parts: how this "future" society looks back on our time and some of the interactions with authority, etc.  But overall, I cannot get into this!  It is the first young adult book that really felt more like a book written for teenagers (as opposed to Hunger Games, Divergent, etc. that were YAPADTs, but perfectly readable to my 33 year old self).  I think in part the use of the words "Pretty" & "Ugly" got realllly old reallllly fast.  I dunno - any body want to defend the series to me?  I read the first two, I've requested the last one from the library because it's SUCH an easy read, I can finish it in basically one day and I might as well find out how this all ends.  But, I'm not eagerly awaiting it's arrival.  (Unlike Allegiant, Oct 22, 2013!)

More in the SciFi realm, but still basically a YAPAD, was a classic Nick directed me towards:  Ender's Game.

It's coming to theaters soon and was really a fun little book to read.  In the future, kids are pushed to be great and save the world.  There are... a dozen? or so other books in the Enderverse (that's a real word) - but they look like they get a little more sci-fi that I'm into.  Maybe I'll try one more, but this one was really good -- highly recommended!

And with that - #69 is done!!

And as I was writing this, I noticed that my request log at the library is empty!  What should I read next??

Fancy food

It's been a while since we've made a fancy meal at home, so a random Friday that Nick & I both had off seemed like a great day to do so!

On the menu (all from the Ad Hoc at Home cookbook):

Creamed corn

Sauteed Asparagus Coins

Wild Cod (actually halibut) en Persillade

 Look at those chives we grew ourselves!  (*So proud)

 Any guesses as to what THIS is??

It's chive oil!  

You blend chives & canola oil (see picture above, thanks Magic Bullet!) and then let it sit over night and slooooowly drain through a cheesecloth.  It was actually really flavorful oil that we mixed with the asparagus.

 Different piles of finely chopped green things (parsley, chives, & lime zest)

 Main course, pre-baked: 

Halibut en persillade - that just means "breadcrumbs with herbs used as a crust".  It was really easy actually, put the fish in a pan, make the top crispy, & then bake in the oven.

 The finished result!  That is the bestest darn creamed corn I ever did eat.  I could have eaten an entire plate of it.  And the asparagus was fun - you cut the ends into little "coins" and mixed it with the tips.  Kind of a lot of work for just presentation, but I was entertained.  Nick had gotten a bottle of champagne at work, so we made a little cocktail with it!

And yes, that's FOUR towels worth of dishes!  Yikes...

So to #13 (cook from Ad Hoc) - I get to count Chive Oil, Parsely Water, Asparagus Coins, Creamed Corn & Cod en Persillade!  Yay for multi-mini check! 

What should we do with the rest of the chive oil? Any thoughts??

My pretties

I wasn't sure I was going to do this one.  I did.  They're beautiful.  (And really tight, I actually went back to the store and was like, um, will these ever fit me??)

Pigalle 100mm - not a super sexy name

I don't think you can wear these in Sonoma -- need an excuse to head to SF & break them out!!
#74 - a guilty, sly, pleased little check!

15 year goal

I know that I have been trying -- for at LEAST fifteen years -- to watch Citizen Kane all the way through. It constantly tops Best Movie lists and is randomly referenced in pop culture/trivia.  But I couldn't get through it.  Ever.  So much so that it got it's own specific number on the list (#87).

I remember that once every summer I'd go to the Neenah library & check it out.  And then turn it on and PROMPTLY fall asleep.  Like, 30.6 seconds in to it.  Without exaggeration.  I had never made it past the Rosebud scene. 

It's the first scene.

Anywho, courtesy of our super random Netflix list -- it showed up.  And we watched it in one sitting!  And it wasn't terrible!  I'm so proud.

Ever seen it?  Got any movies you can't make it through??

And #87 -- check!!

It's ok...

To change goals.  Or not like everything.

A life lesson learned from the 101 list.

More specific examples: 
I have a goal to read a book a month -- and I'll be way over that.  I read a lot - I get the ideas from magazine reviews or I don't know even where.  Our library (I included the link so that you can see how awesomely old school the website I'm talking about is) has a nice feature where you go online, click your book, get on the wait list, then when it's in, you get an email - by then, it's either a fun surprise or I've completely forgotten why I chose it in the first place!  (A frequent conversation leaving the library:  Nick -- "What's that about?" C -- "Oh, some random period piece about sisters, chefs, and sorcerers in Texas/a non-fiction piece exploring decision making in modern humans."  Nick -- "What??"  C -- "Yeah, don't know.")

This show is so awesome-- that's why it takes 1000s of pages to describe everything!!

Anyway, I've signed up for a lot of books & I'm trying to get through the Song of Ice & Fire series (Love the show, does anyone else watch it??) -- and you know what?  Some times, I just don't like the book.  And then... I don't finish it!  It's part of my clean-plate-club mentality, that if you start something -- you finish it!  But (life lesson alert) I don't like everything.  Including some books whose blurbs sounded good, but are actually boring.  So,  The Casual Vacancy & Gods and Beasts -- I don't like you.  And you're both British contemporary fiction, so maybe there's a clue.

Next.

Ours is kinda like this -- but dirtier.

When we moved to Sonoma, I was SO INSISTENT that we get a patio set for our back patio.  We were on a HUNT for one and got it and..... it gathers dust.  Well, dirt more than dust because it's outside.  So I put as #15 - eat dinner outside once a month.  And guess what?  We don't like it.  We don't like to eat outside.  At restaurants on perfect days, sure.  At home, with the dirt and the Lucer & a lack of tv -- nope.  So, to #15 -- I ax you off.  And feel only minimally guilty about it.

Anybody agree with my life lessons??

Small brain

Or maybe it's "too full" brain .

I really would like to know how to do 5 little origami pieces.  Like, hey, you need a party trick? I can make a duck!  I dunno - sounds like a situationally useful skill.  I have tried a couple different ones and I can make them just fine - but anyone can MAKE them, I want to REMEMBER them.  To be able to DO them at some unknown point in the future.  Must just not have room in the noggin.

My little sister tears "Dollar Bill Origami" how-to's out of the Southwest airlines magazine.  What a perfect thing! No fancy paper required!  Waiting in the airport in Hawaii -- I tackled what seemed the easiest of my options: a bow tie!

Not bad, right??  

I'll be honest, this was attempt two.

Ok, so it's been 2 weeks -- and I don't remember how to do it.  Gah! 

One of these days....

Fail check: #77 - but not defeated!