Browse Author: beakatude

I rule.

Jes has always said that I have a black thumb but I’ve always thought that it was more purple because I can keep my plants alive but some just don’t make it.  Lately, I’ve been more successful so I thought I’d share two of my successes.

Last Tuesday (7/26), I bought fresh basil from the Farmer’s Market and made some pesto.  Instead of throwing away all of the leftover stems after plucking off the leaves, I stuck one of them in a bottle of water and left it out by the window.  One week later, I checked the bottle to change the water and I found roots!!!  Whuuuuuttt?!!?!  I totally rule!  Not only are the leaves still alive but it’s regenerated some roots!  I know this is probably common knowledge but I thought with my purple thumb it wouldn’t work.  I was so wrong.

June 20, 2011

I also have an orchid plant that I received as a gift back in December.  It had lots of flowers that eventually dropped after they all opened.  I was determined to keep it alive so I left it out on my windowsill at work and watered it every Wednesday.  Six months later, I found a new leaf (the little one in the middle) and it just keeps getting bigger!

August 4, 2011

Now I have to wait for a spike to grow and hopefully I’ll get flowers.  Yippee!!  I’ll keep you posted.

By the way, my avocado plant had to die because I couldn’t move it up to SF with me.  Oh boo…

Holly’s Baby Shower

On July 17th (the day after Dayantha’s wedding), I helped Holly’s sisters and mom throw Hols a baby shower.

It was at Susie’s really spacious loft in Long Beach and we decorated the place with fresh produce and flowers for a “Farmer’s Market” theme.

Patty and Patti also planned and organized the games including a “Guess the Poop” game that involved guessing different chocolate bars/candy that have been smushed into diapers.  It was fun watching some of the girls sniffing and even tasting the poop.

Holly loved it and she enjoyed having all her closest friends and family around her.  It’s amazing that she’s already 7 months pregnant…she’s so tiny still.  Well, she’s due in September and they don’t know the sex of the baby yet.  I guess they may keep it a surprise…typical Holly and Roy.

Here are the photos from the shower.  Enjoy!

Vancouver Sights

This is my summary of our sightseeing in Vancouver.  We did and saw a lot of stuff in just a couple days outside of the wedding day.  Amongst the Canucks/NHL craziness, we managed to visit most of Vancouver.

On Sunday (6/12), the day after the wedding, we wandered downtown and found Canada Place and the cruise ship that Jes’ parents were going to board that afternoon.  The sun was out with some residual clouds hanging over, which made my photos much more interesting.

Later in the afternoon, Amy and Jay picked us up from the hotel and took us to Gastown before Jason’s flight back to California.  It’s a cute little street with some boutiques and streetside bars.

After dropping Jason off at the airport, we went to Granville Island where they had an indoor Public Market with lots to eat and browse.   Before dinner, we had drinks and oysters at Bridges with an outdoor seat on the patio.

Dinner was at Guu with Garlic and they managed to cram all 15 of us in a tiny sit-on-the-floor room that was super stuffy and hot.  Somehow we managed to have a good meal and a lot of fun hanging out.

On Monday (6/13), I got up early and went for a run.  It was fun to explore the area on foot and in the rain.  Yep, it was raining.  I ran past Rogers Arena where the Canucks were playing a couple days ago.

I ran along Quebec St. and got a nice view of BC Place where the Winter Olympics were held last year.  I found False Creek and the Olympic Village, which is now a very nice but empty cluster of brand-new condos.  To get back, I ran across Cambie St. Bridge for a total of 3 miles completed.

Later that morning, we took the bus to Stanley Park.  It was a short walk to the aquarium and we made use of the umbrellas that we packed.

The aquarium itself was worth the trip.  It also helped that Eric hooked us up with free tickets.  This aquarium had lots to see including marine mammals such as dolphins and beluga whales.

There were maple trees everywhere and I got some pretty cool shots of the leaves in the rain.

Afterward, Amy and Elaine picked us up and took us around Stanley Park.  There were famous statues in the park and they were all dressed in Canucks gear for the weekend.  Canadians are funny.

We saw the totem poles and the Lions Gate Bridge from Prospect Point.  That’s the bridge that we would take to Whistler.  Ah Whistler…we will meet one day.

Before dinner, we stopped at Queen Elizabeth Park.  It’s at the top of a hill and there’s a beautiful garden to explore.

The last stop after dinner was the beach park near the University of British Columbia.  The view was really pretty and the sun was just setting at 8:30 pm!  Vancouver has some really long summer days.

Amy & Jay’s Wedding

Oh man. I’m so behind. I’m JUST posting photos from Amy and Jay’s wedding in Vancouver. They married on June 11th at an old mansion up on the hill. Jes’ dad was the officiant and the back patio was decorated with the prettiest peonies and hydrangeas.  Amy does wedding flowers so she knew exactly what she wanted. The wedding was held in the morning and the weather cooperated.  There was a chance of rain that day and luckily it stayed overcast in the morning and the sun came out later in the afternoon.

Later that day, we met up with the bridal party at their hotel where they had a private dining room where they all hung out and had some drinks.

Once it was time to head out to the reception, we all piled into the limo bus that drove us a good 20 miles to the Chinese restaurant.  Champagne was flowing all the way there.

Amy did a lot of the set-up herself and made sure even the self-serve candy bar was perfect.

At dinner, we met Jesse’s oldest living relative who is supposedly 100 years old.  I still don’t actually know who she is exactly.

Here’s Jay and Amy having their first dance…very sweet.

They served the usual 10-course dinner but I think I only got through the first 6. The evening started out well until I decided to mix what I was drinking and then it all went downhill from there. Without going into a lot of detail, let’s just say that I spent some time hiding in a bathroom stall and when we had to leave early Jes forked over $50 for cab ride back to the hotel. *sigh* He was NOT happy.

Here’s the last photo taken of the night before I turned into a hot mess.

Here are photos from the wedding and reception.

Krissy & Dayantha’s Party

On July 16th, Dayantha married the love of his life and we were all there to celebrate with them at Lakewood Country Club.  The ceremony was outside on the lawn and still had a very traditional Catholic touch.

All the babies were included in the wedding including Titus, who had started walking just in time for the ceremony.

They had a cocktail hour inside the clubhouse and in the patio.  It was so fun to have all my old friends together in one place again.

The reception started with Dayantha performing “Ditty” with his new wife.

The rest of the night was filled with music, dancing, and lots of toasts.   Jes was also reunited with his little friend Makenzie.

With all free-flowing drinks and long night of dancing, we also witnessed the progressive deconstruction of Victor: jacket off, tie off, unbuttoned, untucked, and finally shoes off.  Classic.

At the end of the night, the happy couple danced among drums and bubbles in a very joyful celebration/send off.  We all had a great time that night and I gotta say that the Fernandos really know how to throw a party.

Here is the full album of photos from this memorable (maybe not for some) evening.

Afternoon in the Park

This afternoon, we packed a picnic and took Muni to Golden Gate Park.  The San Francisco Symphony had a free concert in Sharon Meadow and the weather cooperated.  When we got off the street car, it was kinda cold and windy but the sun came out by the time we got to the park.

We enjoyed some Mt. Tam, crackers, salami, and olives with our Bandit box of wine and classical music.

After a short little nap in the sun, we also had some of the pasta salad that I made at home using a rotisserie chicken, bowtie pasta, tomato, basil, olive oil, and salt/pepper.  Yummy.

Here are more photos from this afternoon.

We had a fun time and it was a cheap/easy way to enjoy the good weather.  I sure do miss our trips to Hollywood Bowl every summer.