Archives for October 2015

Friday Facts

October 30, 2015 filed under: Friday Facts

I am a bit bummed this week. I was supposed to go to a workshop next week in Denver, CO (I’ve never been!) and was pulled from the workshop last minute. At first I thought “no big deal”, but I’ve been planning to go on this trip for ~~weeks~~ months and now I am quite disappointed that I won’t be going. I don’t travel much for work at all and was looking forward to getting out of the office for a bit.

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On a happier note, my dear long-time, childhood friend just informed me that she’s coming to California at the end of November. She’ll be in SF for 4 (!) weeks and will most likely want to come and hang out with me on the weekends. She would – besides family – be the first person to ever visit me here since I moved to the States.. oh, just 14 years ago. Thrilled does not even remotely describe my excitement! Especially, given the fact that J and I will most definitely not be able to go to Germany for Christmas, and it will be nice to see a familiar face before the holidays.

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Tomorrow is Halloween! J’s favorite holiday! Mine? Not so much. I usually don’t do scary things. I could be convinced to eat candy and watch “Hocus Pocus” though. That’s my idea of Halloween fun! What are your plans?

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Hooray! The new IKEA catalogue came in the mail. Who’s excited?

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I seriously feel like the end of the year has crept up on me. Maybe it’s because the transition from summer to fall has hardly happened here in CA and it feels very weird to be thinking about the holidays coming up in no time. I am not ready! I repeat, I am not ready!

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Finally, in case, you’re not aware… I give you a little heads up on what’s coming in November. As every year, I’ll be participating in NaBloPoMo. Hooray. You’d better be excited. If you don’t know what NaBloPoMo is, read about it here or come back on Sunday for an ‘introduction’.

Summer Tales II – Las Vegas

October 28, 2015 filed under: family, summer tales, travel, USA

I am recapping the wonderful times that I had with my family here in the States this summer. See all related posts under the category: summer tales.

We had a full day in Vegas (7/9) and started off with a big breakfast at the Le Village Buffet. I am not a huge fan of the buffets in Vegas (because they’re usually expensive and I just can’t eat enough to make the cost worthwhile. I’d much rather order a nice meal somewhere else), but of course you have to eat at a buffet at least once while you’re there. The Le Village buffet is one of my favorites, because they always serve authentic French style crepes!

THESE munchkins!

Around 11 a.m., we headed out to the famous Las Vegas sign. Of course, we had to take pictures at this tourist attraction. If you’re wondering where the proof is: I can’t locate the picture. I’ve been going through thousands of pictures, organizing them by date, but it appears that some of them have been lost in the abyss. Bummer.
My Dad and I dropped everybody off at the Las Vegas Outlets and we took the rental car back to the airport (because you really don’t need a car in Vegas).
Conveniently, the Outlets were right next to the airport’s rental car place and so we could walk back and meet everybody back at the stores.

At 5p.m. we took the bus back to our hotel and then had time to jump in the pool for a bit.

I had made last minute reservation at the “Trevi” restaurant inside of Caesar’s Palace. As it turned out, a good choice! We dined next to the “Trevi” fountain and the pizza, carpaccio, chicken and salad were delicious!

We watched the “eruption of the volcano” at Mirage Hotel and then took a walk through the ‘Venetian’, but unfortunately, it was too late and the gondoliers had already gone home. It was still a fun day in Vegas!

You can find the last post here.

Currenty | October

October 22, 2015 filed under: currently

eating apple-cinnamon steel cut oats. So, so good. The taste of fall.

watching This is Life with Lisa Ling on CNN. (Am I a broken record?)

enjoying the finally cooler temperatures. Thank you, fall.

happy-dancing about some really good news from my bff’s recent cancer screening.

wearing close-toed shoes again for the first time this fall. It’s still in the 80’s during the day, but the mornings and evenings are significantly cooler now.

missing out on a high school reunion back home. Debating if this is a good thing after all ;)

looking forward to another work trip at the beginning of November.

loving my first cup of coffee in the morning. No seriously, I think this is what makes me get out of bed in the morning. If I didn’t have that to look forward to, I don’t know what would happen… (and then on Monday, I get to the office and my co-worker is already there (he usually comes in after me) and he’s brewed an awfully thin pot of coffee and I just can’t even..).

appreciating little things like not having to pay for my teeth cleaning last week. Since my healthcare premiums have gone up significantly under my new work contract (*sad-trombone*), I try to at least recognize some little perks that come with that (let’s see how many more I can detect! I hope many more!).

planning on launching some Christmas cards for this year in our Etsy shop soon. I’ll keep you posted!

keeping in mind that nothing is ever as it seems.

Seeing an old friend + a birthday

October 19, 2015 filed under: birthday, weekend

J and I had a nice mellow weekend. We like it that way. However, this was not an ordinary weekend for two reasons…

On Friday, I had the pleasure to finally – after 10 years! – meet up with one of my earliest blog friends again. Sanna was coming through town with her husband and a few friends on their way to a weekend in Napa Valley and I got the chance to grab a cup of coffee with them before they headed out! I am so glad we had the opportunity to see each other again and catch up, even if it was just for a couple of hours!

I also crossed a dentist appointment, a scheduled training run and laundry off my list that day.

Saturday was busy with errands at the post office, grocery store, and the bank.

Yesterday was J’s birthday and we celebrated with coffee and chocolate croissants, as one does! We had a low-key day, were out and about a little bit in the afternoon because it was a beautiful mild autumn day, and then we went home so I could cook a delicious birthday dinner (recipe to come!).

Other good things this weekend:
a thunderstorm ♥ crafting ♥ phone calls with my family ♥ candles ♥ reading ♥ movie night ♥ planning ♥ meal planning ♥ sleeping in ♥ real simple in the mail ♥

How was your weekend?

October Link Love

October 15, 2015 filed under: link love

It’s time to round up my favorite reads and links from this last month. Enjoy!

The case against equality of opportunity. First I was like “WTH?” when I read this title, then I wholeheartedly agreed with the bottom line: “The goal is a good life for all”. MUST READ.

There was this really interesting article in the New Yorker about What old age is really like.

And them my friend Marie wrote about How old is old? in response to the article. Definitely something to contemplate. I could really relate to what Marie wrote “Be it 5, 17, 28, 35, 46, 61, or 89, we remain the same, just shaped a little more by our life experiences and the knowledge we gather along the way.” Isn’t that the truth?

17 Halloween movies for the easily scared people. Hahaha, that would be me!

Why people never smiled in old photographs. Who knew!?

I think there is some good advice here: Here’s how to start running, stick to it, and not totally hate it. Also: just getting outside and moving is important, IMHO.

Pretty much sums it up: 11 things that only girls with fine hair will understand.

Healthy Greek yogurt lemon poppyseed pound cake. All my favorite things!

More deliciousness! This looks so good! Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup.

Fellow crocheters! Those circle-in-the-square pillows are so pretty!!

Summer tales II – Valley of Fire

October 14, 2015 filed under: family, summer tales, travel, USA

I am recapping the wonderful times that I had with my family here in the States this summer. See all related posts under the category: summer tales.

Today (7/8) we left Page and headed to Las Vegas. Weather in the area is really strange, because although it was quite warm, we hit a couple of localized thunderstorms driving west.

We arrived at the “Valley of Fire” around 3 p.m. The Valley of Fire was named for the magnificent red sandstone formations that were formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of the dinosaurs more than 150 million years ago (Mesozoic Era). These sandstone formations can appear to be on fire when reflecting the sun’s rays and it was definitely a beautiful view!

We decided it was time to stop somewhere for a late lunch. We looked for a picnic area close to the “Seven Sisters”, a group of 7 tall, red, eroded boulders surround by the sandy desert. We ended up sitting right between two big boulders which turned out to be a wind aisle and we had to hold on to our paper plates and drinks. It was quite entertaining actually and we called this “adventure-picnicking” :)

Numerous “blow holes” forecast the eventual destruction of the towers in the future. For now, these holes were fun for taking some photos.

We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and then to the ‘White Domes’, where we embarked on the 1-mile White Dome trail hike. We even passed by a historical movie site! The White Domes area was the location for the 1966 movie The Professionals, starring Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale. The movie was also responsible for the development of the road and access to the area and the remains of the site include a small portion of the wall of the hacienda.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish the loop through the slot canyon, because there was standing water in the canyon and we had to turn around. It was still a very impressive, short hike!

Sadly, time was getting away from us once again and we had to abandon our plan to hike to the (fairly new) Fire wave (which is supposedly a smaller version of “The Wave” in Arizona.

We left the park around 5 p.m. and made our way to Las Vegas. We checked into our hotel, the Paris Las Vegas Hotel, refreshed ourselves and then headed out to dinner. A quick consultation of the Internet and we had reserved a table at the Double Barrel Roadhouse, a bar & grill with an open patio right on the Strip!

We ordered nachos, spare ribs, and steaks and enjoyed the people-watching. On our way back, we enjoyed the water fountains at the Bellagio and then headed back to the hotel.

The kids needed to go to bed! My Mom volunteered to stay with the kids and the rest of us headed to “Napoleon’s Bar” to enjoy a drink and listen to the “Dualing Piano Players”. It was fun!

Find the previous post here.

Recipe | Blueberry Greek Yogurt Banana Oat Bread

October 12, 2015 filed under: food, recipe

What do you do when you have a few bananas that have been sitting in your kitchen for a week and are turning brown? You make banana bread!

Truth be told, I have never made banana bread in my life (mostly because both J and I are not big banana fans and didn’t use to have bananas in the house ever), but since I started eating bananas as part of my pre/post-workout fuel, we have had bananas in our kitchen and we don’t always get around to eating them all before they go overripe.

But, this means that I’ve come to the resolution that if that happens, it’s time to bake! We try really hard not to throw out any food and I am proud to say that we really waste very, very little (compared to the national average of 25% of all purchased food that is being thrown out. That comes out to about 20+ pounds per person per month! WHAT?! That is crazy.).

So, the banana bread is a win-win situation. No food waste + delicious healthy treats on a weekend morning = problem solved.

This was super-easy and fairly quick to make. It’s extra yummy with your first cup of fresh hot, steaming coffee. Just sayin’.

The recipe was adapted from this recipe. Instead of using apple sauce, I decided to use up some greek yogurt that I also had sitting in my fridge.

Blueberry Greek Yogurt Banana Oat Bread

Recipe Type: Brunch

Author: San

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 10 slices

Ingredients

1 cup oats
1 1/2 cups <g class=”gr_ gr_59 gr-alert gr_spell ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace” id=”59″ data-gr-id=”59″>all purpose</g> flour
⅔ cups brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp sea salt
2 eggs
1 cup greek yogurt
2 overripe bananas
1 cup of frozen blueberries
Topping:
¼ cup oats
¼ cup brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray loaf pan with cooking spray, set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine oats, flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl; combine eggs, greek yogurt, and bananas; mix well (I used a <g class=”gr_ gr_60 gr-alert gr_spell ContextualSpelling ins-del multiReplace” id=”60″ data-gr-id=”60″>handmixer</g>).
Toss blueberries with 2 Tbsp reserved flour to lightly coat.
Combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix just until combined.
Add blueberries and gently fold them into the batter.
Pour into prepared pan.
Combine toppings and sprinkle on top of batter.
Bake 50-60 minutes. Check with <g class=”gr_ gr_66 gr-alert gr_gramm Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep” id=”66″ data-gr-id=”66″>toothpick</g> until it comes out clean.
Let it cool on a cooling rack.

Serving size: 1 slice (calculated for 10 slices/loaf) Calories: ca. 220

Friday Facts (on a Saturday)

October 10, 2015 filed under: about me, Friday Facts

I thought about it all last week and then I totally forgot that Monday was J’s and my 14th meet-aversary. I never forget these kinds of things. I must have been tuckered out from my 7-day field work trip last week (I got home late Saturday night). I told the story of how we met before (you can read about it here), but it boggles my mind that it has been 14 years since I first came to California as an exchange student. To think how much that day has changed my life’s trajectory!

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This is life with Lisa Ling (Season 2) is back on CNN (on Wednesday nights). I am so excited. She touches on such interesting topics in her documentary-style series. You should check it out, if you haven’t.

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Got my hair cut and colored yesterday for the first time in over a year. Let’s just say: it was time!

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Had a long overdue (again!) phone call with my bff from home and I it made me once again realize how much it sucks that none of my closest friends live in the “let’s spontaneous meet for dinner/coffee/movie-night”-vicinity. Sigh. I miss having these intimate close connections and making new friends is just so much work. I often feel tired at the end of the week and the last thing I want to do is go out and socialize for the sake of making new friends. I miss the ease with which one interacts with old friends, how it is no effort at all. I know there are people out there who would probably be worth the effort, but man, it is so hard to push oneself to do the work.

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Baseball main season is over and the Red Sox didn’t make it to the playoffs this year (meh!) – not even close! Guess, I have to start watching Basketball again this winter and hope that the Sacramento Kings will pick up their game. I need some winners in my (sports) life.

TGIF!

Summer tales II – Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend

October 8, 2015 filed under: family, summer tales, travel, USA

I am recapping the wonderful times that I had with my family here in the States this summer. See all related posts under the category: summer tales.
This post is going to be photo-heavy and still won’t do all the beauty justice that we saw that day!

We arrived in Page at 5 p.m (on 7/6) and had time for a quick dip in the pool, before we headed out to “Bonkers” for dinner. This was an approved restaurant from our last visit in Page and we definitely were looking forward to go back there. We weren’t disappointed.

The next morning (7/7) after a more-or-less acceptable breakfast at our hotel, Nina, Dirk and I drove to “Antelope Canyon Tours”, where we were booked for a tour at 10:30 a.m. to Upper Antelope Canyon. My parents agreed to hang out with the kids for the day (they have been to the canyon before!).

We were loaded up in trucks and driven to the canyon, because the slot canyon is on Navajo land and can only be accessed on a guided tour). Nina, Dirk and I ended up being placed in a bigger SUV, not one of the open tour trucks I had told them about previously. First we were a bit bummed, because riding in those open trucks is kinda fun, but that turned out to be a good thing because it meant that we were in a smaller group of only 7 people and not with 15 others.
On our way to the canyon, our tour guide Marla told us about the flash flood incident a couple of years ago that killed some tourists in the canyon. Although I had heard of that before I wasn’t really thrilled to be reminded just before we were going to enter the canyon.

The short hike through the ‘slot canyon’ was surreal and breath-taking. Nina and Dirk were definitely impressed (although I understand that Dirk was not a fan of the “touristy” setup, being forced through a canyon with a gazillion other people. Sigh. I can relate, but that’s how it is. They only allow guided tours.)

We spent about an hour in the canyon and I was once again in awe of Mother Nature.

We stopped for a quick lunch break in town (and got caught in a hail storm that came and went in about 15 minutes. Weather in Arizona in the summer is all over the place!).
Then the three of us headed out to Horseshoe Bend, an impressive horseshoe-shaped, 270-degree meander (hence the name) of the Colorado River located 5 miles (8.0 km) downstream from the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell.

The overlook is accessible via a ¾ mile hike from U.S. Route 89 and it’s part of a state park. The overlook is 4,200 feet (1,300 m) above sea level, and the Colorado River is at 3,200 feet (980 m) above sea level, making it a 1,000-foot (300 m) drop.
Mind you, there are no guard rails or anything at the cliff’s edge and Dirk was surprised that they didn’t charge anything to access this breath-taking natural phenomenon. I could tell, this was so far the most impressive site that we visited yet! And I have to agree, Horseshoe Bend is one of my favorite geological sites (and I was lucky enough to be part of a project at work that studied that stretch of the Colorado meanders).

We spent two hours on the hunt for the perfect picture (although it is very hard to capture the enormity of this overlook in a photograph, but we still tried!). Nina was definitely a bit more anxious (like my Mom last time) to get close to the edge.

Around 4:30 p.m. we met up with my parents and the kids at the hotel and decided to visit the Glen Canyon Dam Visitor Center and take a closer look at the Dam (especially since we had missed the opportunity to stop at Hoover Dam on our way from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon a few days prior).

For dinner, we went to the “Dam Bar & Grille” and because we were pretty late – once again – both kids were falling asleep halfway through their meals. We really should have planned this better.

You can read the last post here.

Hello October.

October 6, 2015 filed under: about me, this and that

I can’t believe it’s October. I know, everybody says that at the beginning of every month these days, “Oh, I can’t believe it’s … already!”, but honestly, isn’t it true though? I mean, we’re less than three months away from Christmas! I personally won’t complain, because I like fall and I like Christmas (as you know). But still, this year has just – once again – flown by, or so it seems.

This month started off for me with field work in the desert last week. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen one or the other pictures (see above) and let me tell you, they haven’t gotten the memo about fall in the desert yet! We were working in 100+F degrees and I don’t think I’ve had that much water in my entire life! It is nice though to get out of the office every once in a while and do some physical work in the outdoors.

The only thing that I am not so fond of are the critters that live in California (and I absolutely do realize that we have it good here compared to other parts of the country!). One of the spots that I had to go to, I was warned, might have rattlesnakes around and to be careful when I hike up the canyon. Oh well, I guess you can’t be a real geologist without getting outdoors every once in a while. I also must admit, in all the years that I lived here, I have not encountered any rattlesnakes (or bears or mountain lions for that matter) and while I am not keen on doing so, I can’t really complain when I have been quite lucky so far. I think I might have seen a black widow once in the past and last week, I think I did see a snake curled up in its hiding place between rocks, but as you can imagine, I stayed the hell away from it. So, I am still counting this as “no encounters yet”.

I was gone for 7 days and my weekend was cut ~~a bit~~ very short, but the rest of October should be a little bit more low-key and there is a four day weekend just around the corner. I know a lot of birthday boys and girls in October, but since most of them are family and not here, I don’t really get to attend any festivities (like my Mom’s awesome Italian themed birthday brunch last Saturday – meh!), but my favorite person’s – aka J’s – birthday is coming up too and I am looking forward to celebrating with him.

I also hope that it will start feeling like fall soon. Temperatures have dropped here in Northern California significantly this week (I mean, it’s still hot, but not scorching hot! I’ll take it!) and I can’t wait for the first fall leaves, pumpkin patches, a visit to Apple Hill, and Halloween.

What’s happening in your world in October?