CourtneyP

I’ve been jumping around from climate to climate in the past few weeks, and I’m not sure if I really like it.

Temperatures hit a low at the beginning of the month in the Bay Area, with temperatures as low as thirty or so degrees in Santa Clara. It was cold! We cranked up the furnace and lit fires in the fireplaces… dug out the ol’ down comforters and fuzzy slippers. Fog loomed in our little cul-de-sac for entire days.

Then I went with my Mom, Dad and brother to Puerto Vallarta earlier this month, to be greeted by tropical temperatures (mid sixties at night to mid eighties during the day) and bright sunlight. It was perfect, actually… no rain and low humidity.

Back to the Bay Area to have Christmas with the rest of my family, which went great. I made some yummy Shrimp and Corn Croquettes for Christmas Eve dinner (which, I will add, I am probably going to be producing again for New Year’s Day). Mom produced way too much food once again, and we were eating all night.

More on Christmas later, though…

So, on Christmas Day, I spent the afternoon and evening travelling out to the Twin Cities of Minnesota to spend some time with K’s family. Now I’m in very cold weather, with snowfall happening on the day before I arrived. The temperatures have actually been rising since I arrived, with it now at twenty-six degrees as I type this (thank you, WeatherPop), and expected rises to the 40’s in the next few days. It’s actually supposed to snow again the day after I leave, so I am not going to be able to witness any snowfall here at all.

We’ll always have Tahoe, I guess. ^_^;;

I hope you are having a lovely holiday season. Thank goodness that the craziness of the season is over… this seems like a very lax time of year, when we can breathe a sigh of relief that the madness is done with and we can ring in the new year with a fresh start.

Yup, quiet around here, as usual.

November and December are always mad crazy months. With the holidays and all, who has time for anything, really?

I’ve been crafting up a storm in preparation for the holidays since last month. Last night and today, I was working on our holidays cards on the ol’ Gocco.

I am also making some mini buttons, marble magnets and a slew of homemade bath products for presents. I do admit to a little bit of Christmas shopping… at least we do a “White Elephant” gift exchange for my extended family. I do love finding gifts for my immediate family, though. I like to think very hard about what they would enjoy and the expression on their face when they find out what I gave them. Good stuff.

We also have been fixing up the house in preparation for our winter party. Our latest addition is what I fondly call the “Moon Room”:

We are hoping to add some little glow in the dark stars to the wall with the moon on it. I wish we could paint the wall, but alas, the woes of renting.

Earlier today, I received this fortune cookie:

It is the quintessential fortune cookie, no? I also cringed a bit when I saw that they used Comic Sans for the font on these fortunes.

I am off on a trip with my parents and brother to Mexico within a few hours. I’m a bit anxious about leaving home in the midst of all the holiday preparation, but I’m confident that it will all be just fine. The house and the rest of the holiday duties are in the capable hands of K.

I think I need a bit of relaxation, anyway.

Hasta luego, kiddos!

So I’ve been in Las Vegas for a day so far, and I’m pretty amazed how much has changed since I was here last, maybe five or six years ago. Maybe half a dozen new resorts have popped up and they’re all, not surprisingly, very extravagant. Everything sparkles at nighttime and we stop to stare in amazement at the wonders of the lighted signs and marquees. I swear, everything here is extravagantly lit, even the ol’ drug store, the In-N-Out Burger, the camera store and the Denny’s. Only in Vegas.

We got to have dinner at Bobby Flay’s new Mesa Grill at Caesars, which I will say is very tasty. As much as Flay annoys me (I simply cannot watch his shows because his voice alone is enough to make me cringe), I admit he makes some damn fine food. We shared a grilled shrimp & cilantro pesto quesadilla appetizer and a New Mexican spice rubbed pork tenderloin, both accented with smoky spices and well-crafted sauces. With the signature margaritas (K had an original, I had a white peach, both on the rocks), the meal was perfect. Although a wee bit pricey, sharing a meal is the way to go. I really do believe in sharing entrees because regular american restaurant portions are really too big for a single person. Plus, it makes pricier restaurants a bit more manageable for the rest of us.

I played a bit of progressive nickel slots this afternoon (yes, I’m being thrifty) and lost only $10. So far, so good. As fun and exciting as it would be to play a bit of hold ‘em or three-card poker here in Sin City, I am a bit concerned about seeing too much my money disappear way too fast. I prefer my regular kitchen table poker gang back home, for sure. It would be interesting to get that gang down here to take over one of these tables and play a few rounds. Some day, some day…

But we’d rather use our money right now for some good food and entertainment.

What I’m mostly excited about it seeing a show or two. We’re planning on seeing the infamous Blue Man Group at the Luxor as well as Penn and Teller’s newest show at the Rio. I am not interested at all in the Sirens show here at Treasure Island (which seems to be affectionately referred to as “TI” everywhere now… and I can’t shake the Texas Instruments connection). Even though it’s a free show, it really turns me off with its battle of the sexes theme. What ever happened to the good ol’ pirate show? This makes me sad.

For today and tomorrow, K is in a conference, so I’ve been pretty much fending for myself. It’s kinda cool to wander around and people watch. Right now I am relaxing in our room overlooking the strip (yesterday we had a room on the other side of the building that overlooked a roof, and luckily they had us change rooms today. hooray!). It’s a very gray cloudy day, and it’s gloriously brisk out. The rain has been on and off all day, but I’m sure I can find more ways to get around without getting wet.

Oops! Just as I typed that, an incredible downpour just started. Awesome, I can barely see the buildings down the block. Gonna head down to Canter’s Deli for a munchie.

Ooh! Thunder!

This weekend, we took a long drive up to Napa and Sonoma County to partake in countryside crusing, a bit of touristy wandering, and of course, a nice dinner accompanied by some good wine.

The last time I was in Napa, I was attending the annual Mustard Festival with G. It was a lovely time, and I never really followed through with my vow to visit the area more often. It’s a long drive, almost 2 hours at best, so that unfortunately has always been a bit of a hurdle for me.

But this not this past Saturday, when we took a nice leisurely drive up to Napa, with a short stop in our old stomping grounds of Mill Valley for a quick bite for lunch. The ride was calm and relaxed on this nice summer day. It’s always a welcome change to see the long-stretching hills and watch the acres and acres of grape vines roll by my window.

We did not stop by any wineries this time, but did stop by COPIA, the center for wine, food and arts, in Downtown Napa. The last time I was there was on its opening day in 2001. K had never been there, let alone Napa itself! We enjoyed viewing art in the galleries, learning more about food history, food production and even a little bit of food science, and walking the bountiful “Edible Gardens” that lay right outside of the center. Unfortunately, we did not get to taste any wines or cheese, for they were having a special tasting event that required a separate fee.

That afternoon, we took some more drives through the wine country, traversing through Yountville, Oakville and St. Helena. Lots of natural beauty, and a TON of wineries that we vow to visit sometime in the near future. We satisfied a bit of curiosity for local history by visiting the Pioneer Cemetery in Yountville, which was founded in the mid-1800’s. It was certainly very interesting to piece together some fragments of the town’s history through its graves. This cemetery even housed ancient Indian burial grounds, and overlooked a beautiful hillside scattered with vineyards. I took a ton of photos, which are still awaiting to be downloaded from my trusty camera.

In the evening, the events came full circle. We had dinner at Mustard’s Grill in Yountville, a restaurant that I learned about on my Mustard Festival visit last year. We were not disappointed. I enjoyed their famous Mongolian Pork Chop with mustard sauce, mashed potatoes and red cabbage (with a glass of Edna Valley Paragon Pinot Noir), whilst Kev had the Ahi Tuna Sandwich with fries and a side order of goat cheese polenta (with I believe the Simpson Vineyard Miner Viognier). I can’t believe I ate the whole thing! Dessert looked wonderful (I must say that the chocolate tart with brown sugar ice cream was really tempting), but I couldn’t have possibly fit another bit in my stomach. Phew!

I do have a few “food for thought” posts mingling in my mind, inspired by this little trip, but I will save that for later this week, when I have a bit more time to ponder and collect my thoughts.

Hope your weekend went well, too!

I’ve turned into quite the “Do-It-Yourself” advocate lately.

I dunno if it means I’ve become more domestic, or maybe it’s just the artist in me wanting to get out more. I certainly don’t get to exercise my creativity enough in my day job, so of course, I must find some outlets. Maybe it’s also a desire to just do something “handy”… something with to get my hands dirty with.

It’s funny, though, because not too long ago, my mom, the “Filipina Martha Stewart” (as some friends have called her, but maybe it’s not so fitting these days because of recent events), called me “not so crafty”. Now, I’m not sure exactly what that meant… maybe she was just a fan of the Beastie Boys’ song, but I doubt it. I wasn’t exactly sure how to take this comment. I mean, sure, I wasn’t scouring flea markets for the latest Shabby Chic project materials, but I do disagree with her comment… I like to make stuff, I think I just like a different kind of craft.

The APE con really opened my eyes once again to the wonderful projects that can be done on limited budget and unlimited creativity. It was inspiring, to say the least. I’ve taken on a few more projects as of late, like more stencil cutting and t-shirt prints, mini-button production and the on-again, off-again darkroom project. I’m determined to get these things moving more than ever, and hopefully open up the door for more projects as a freelancer. I think I may go into producing promotional products for local artists and bands. That would be so choice.

Haha. I wonder of this qualifies me as a full-on Indie Snob. Hmm. Not that I look for a label…

But anyways, I think doing projects like these are good for me. I need to do more of them. The sheer satisfaction of seeing one finished DIY product completed does a whole lot more for me than a full day of regular work.
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