the remaking of a kitchen

sarah and i picked up lynne and chris at the airport in the afternoon after our morning shopping in downtown san fran and they drove me to palo alto to meet sandy, david's mom. she took me home to santa cruz with her and we relaxed for a bit and then walked over to the house we have rented on blackpoint lane for the weekend of the wedding. it is a great house, and i think we will all be comfy there. susanna assures me that we can have a family gathering there as long as no one gets too rowdy. i think we can handle that.
sandy and i had a lovely time together. on saturday we visited multiple florists and got ideas and suggestions. i will make a phone call soon. we also got to see gabriella's cafe so now i can picture the place where the big event will occur! it will be such fun!
we went to a restaurant on the wharf for dinner saturday evening.....had great food! tho we said we'd take the first available seating, we ended up with the window seats and a fabulous view! of course we had gelato for a little dessert treat. :)
the next morning, i threw everything into the suitcases and we were off to palo alto again to meet david's sisters for the drive into san francisco and green's restaurant. we had a bit of an adventure thanks to google goofing us up, but thanks to a friendly voice at the restaurant we found our way there, and only 30 minutes late. they had saved our table and were very gracious....great food, smiles, laughs, tears and a lovely time all told. the silver women were lovely hostesses and it was fun to finally put names and faces together after hearing stories and seeing photos on blogs. i can't wait to see them all again.....soon!!

Labels: santa cruz and sandy, shopping, shower

i'm back from a lovely 4 days in my favorite city. i do love that place, and having david and sarah show me their places is a delight. sarah was waiting for me as i left the secure area at the airport even tho we were 35 minutes early. lovely. we walked around their neighborhood and when david came home we walked to a neighborhood restaurant. as we were enjoying our wine i handed sarah the little silk bag i'd brought from home. they tried them on and the rings fit perfectly, plus they like them! good news for sure. designing long distance, showing photos as i went along was not the surest way to please, but all is well. they were amazed that i'd thrown my procrastinating ways to the winds and did the deed in hurry-up fashion. what the heck, I AM AMAZED AT MYSELF!!
we did lots of walking, shopping and just having a good time. sarah and i met louise in oakland at the bart station, got to see the new things they have done to their house, saw mr outstanding himself and then proceeded to lunch. yummy food in berkeley on 4th street. then we shopped for THE dress.....looked at several swank designer places without success, and finally found the dress of sarah's dreams. it is a beauty and looks like a sarah dress, so all is well. we then visited a fabric shop and found some wonderful silk to make a wrap. a very successful day!
the next day sarah and i breakfasted in a sweet french cafe and then went to britex, dress and silk in hand. they helped us to make decisions on the wrap and sarah found some trim and ribbon to make it perfect. now i just have to sew the thing together by hand and do it so that the stitches don't show to the naked eye. help.

Labels: dress, rings, san francisco, shopping

today was great.....our friends john and kay lynn are here visiting john's relatives, and we got on their busy schedule for lunch today. they got here shortly after 10 and stayed and visited till after 3. it was wonderful. john hadn't been here previously, and kay lynn hadn't seen ANYTHING we'd done to the house or yard. in 19 years it's been quite a bit.
old friends are the best and their visit was just a treat. we had soup and bread with biscotti for dessert. my first attempt at the latter....it was good that we had coffee for dunking as they were pretty crisp!

Labels: john and kay lynn

this has been a fun week in that we had dinner guests on two different evenings. i think i could get used to that....i really enjoyed it. a week ago, on sunday, brother jack arrived for his autumn vacation, and coincidentally, betsy and steve were at an afternoon event at a neighborhood lutheran church, so they joined us for dinner. we had pork tenderloins with a cranberry sauce, roasted root vegetables, a tossed salad with the mcgrew brownies for dessert. truly yummy. i had cut up the veggies and tossed them in oil with rosemary and tucked them in a bowl to be refrigerated the day before. i baked the brownies that day too. the tenderloins were trimmed in the morning, so i was pretty organized. we even had some appetizers, simple ones which are the best. it was a fun evening....we have been talking about getting together for dinner with betsy and steve for so many years that it is embarrassing.....we WILL do it again!
friday night we invited mary alyce and duane to join us for pizza. i ordered papa murphy's and purchased a jerry's pie, but i did make a salad (!) and it was easy all around and fun. lots of good conversation....and 3 of us did grow up on the same street for pete's sake!
i should be plotting to organize the next occasion!

Labels: dinner guests

i decided to add this picture too. it was auntie lee's favorite, so it only seems right. i was with her for 5 days, and it was good.

Labels: auntie lee

my cousin kevin and his son jack joined auntie and i for some valentino's pizza on saturday night. they had driven in from kansas city to attend the nebraska/iowa state football game. they both had a bit of sunburn from sitting in some excellent seats on the east side of the field. auntie loved having them there and it was a great time. i hadn't seen kevin in a long time and never met jack....he is a charmer, like his grandpa jack....my fave uncle!
the other picture is one of my poor attempts to take my own picture with auntie lee. i always seem to end up looking a bit goofy, but auntie came out like a champ. things are getting harder for her, but she is trying to stay in her own home as long as possible. she is pretty amazing, and you have to commend her for her efforts.
we really had a good time, and i got a few things accomplished that should keep her going for awhile. i told her i'd be back, and i will be.

Labels: auntie lee

here i am about to take off for nebraska with less than 20 miles on the car. it behaved extremely well, easy to drive and i really wish i had time to read the manual before i left. the gps is fun and i need to know how to put something other than the dealership, our home and auntie lee's into the mix. sigh.

Labels: prius