one [really long] catch up post!

Yikes! Where has the time gone?!

I will attempt to make up for this large gap with what will probably end up being an unnecessarily lengthy post (while listening to The Killers' Hot Fuss album I may add).

Where to begin ... well it all started about a month ago when a band that my husband plays the drums for, Clutch Grabwell, was asked to fly down to Key West, Florida to play for one of their fans' hotel grand re-opening (or something like that). Oh, the thought of the warm Florida sun during a normally icy cold period of winter in March was so enticing! I searched online for airfare, hotels, and rental car fees only to be disappointed by the fact that it would cost me nearly $1,500 for a four day vacation (the band got to go all-expenses paid, even instrument rental). So, burst that thought bubble. I wasn't Florida bound after all.

[Brandon Flowers: " ... but it's just the price I pay, destiny is calling me ... "]

Low and behold, I get an email from JetBlue (my fave airline by far by the way) the next day announcing a 48 hour sale for a few destinations out of Boston. And I managed to score what is probably THE lowest airfare - direct! - from Boston to Oakland that I've ever paid in my whole life: $159.20 AFTER taxes TOTAL! No shit! Craziness, eh?! And what perfect timing!

Our Dad also flew out to stay with my sister for a couple of the days that I was there, which was great because I could see everyone within the long weekend. We decided to surprise Linda and didn't tell her that he was flying out the day after I arrived, and she was extremely shocked to see him when she got home from work. LOL Oh, the things we do to my poor little sister!

[Brandon Flowers: " ... smile like you mean it ... "]

I had so much hanging out with my three nephews. Cade's vocabulary has developed so much since I last saw them in December, and he's got some mad skills on the computer. He is so much taller, too (tho - I have a theory that I'm shrinking - another story for another post) and comes up to about my nose. Evan is on a baseball team and so it was fun watching his game and cheering him on (they won 16 to 10!). He is taller, too, and is up to my shoulders now. He swears that when he turns 5 (which is not too far from now) he will be taller than me. Scary how he's not that far off in his estimation! And the little one, Tanner, was just so much fun to play with. He's about 21 months old now and still a mama's boy, so it took him a little while to warm up to me again. He enjoys playing with their little drum set and the keyboard.


Gosh, I miss and love them so much.

[Brandon Flowers: " ... I got soul but I'm not a soldier ... "]

Any time I fly home, there seems to be this "battle" for my time between my mom and my sister. Nothing different this time around. I went to our mom's house in Livermore on Saturday night and then the next day we drove up their house in Valley Springs. We drove to a nearby town called Murphys and had a nice lunch at Restaurant 498 later that afternoon. We met the owner, Helen, and she recommended a some wineries for us to check out in town so we did some wine tasting at three wineries: Frog's Tooth, Tanner, and Vina Moda (quite possibly the coolest tasting room I've ever seen).


[Brandon Flowers: " ... if the answer is no, can I change your mind ... "]

As soon as it happened, my lovely little vacation time ended. [insert Debbie Downer face here] Back to work and real life. I had a nice surprise waiting for me though. Our Dad and Debbie sent me a fill-a-bowl to use at my new desk as the receptionist in our new location. So after going out to Target in search of colorful little candies to decorate it with, Elissa and I spent our lunch break filling each of the spaces with Gobstoppers, Good & Fruity, and Mike & Ike candies. The bowls come two in a box and since I don't need two at my desk, I let Elissa keep the smaller one on her desk. I think we did a pretty good job!


[Brandon Flowers: " ... you left the station nailed to the floor with speculation what was it for ... "]

They also sent me a hyacinth bulb that arrived in a really cute green egg planter container. I watered it and then covered it back up with the lid so that it would be in the dark over the weekend. I uncovered it this morning to water it again and now it's too tall for the lid to fit on again. Pretty neat to watch this plant grow!


Last night was like a date night, except we didn't go out. Kickass Cupcakes in Davis Square was giving away free mini cupcakes during one of their Cocktail Cupcake Happy Hour events, so I stopped by to check it out after work. They had the cutest little cupcakes and they let me take one of each flavor home: banana daquiri (complete with a little plastic straw!), screwdriver, and a green monster (made with stout). I felt a little guilty just taking free cupcakes, so I bought Tony a super chocolate one (chocolate brownie cupcake topped with bittersweet chocolate ganache and covered with chocolate shavings) and a mojito one (my fave! - rum soaked cupcake with sugar cane lime frosting and fresh mint - sooooo good!) for Elissa to try.


I gave the three mini cupcakes to my coworker, Jennifer, as a little token of thanks for giving me a bag of Hershey's kisses to refill the candy bowl. :) Shoot, if I can't eat them I should share them, right?! I still can't get over how cute they were!


[Brandon Flowers: " ... and sometimes you close your eyes and see the place where you used to live ... when you were young ... " (now playing the Sam's Town cd)]

Oh and sorry, back to the "date night"! I bought some beautiful wine glasses from Vina Moda during our wine tasting because they had the letter "D" on them in a neat, grungy font. So we had some really delicious Montepulciano wine (yeah, I know, not from this trip) with dinner and then opened the bottle of port that I brought back from Frog's Tooth vineyard. Tony devoured the chocolate cupcake and I had a slice of homemade pound cake. It was so nice to just sit and talk with each other for hours, especially after being apart for a few days. :)


[Brandon Flowers: " ... higher and higher, we're gonna take it, down to the wire, we're gonna make it, out of the fire, higher and higher ... "]

And so now, it's time to play catch up. Will post more on the food blog soon. I'm taking a yoga class that begins tomorrow night, so look forward to posts about sore muscles and feeling older than my age. LOL

Good night world! :)