Thanksgiving 2012

I know this is a few days late (which is kind of my style I guess) but I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Sometimes with the daily wonders (and struggles of life) we forget about the simple things, like how many people out there we love and are loved by, and how many blessings we have in our lives (especially the ones we forget to count).

This year, we had an extra special Thanksgiving because we had TWO Thanksgivings (two dinners with two families!). Matt drove up the Sunnyvale on Wednesday and we had Thanksgiving with my family for the first time together. He met a lot of my extended family for the first time, and I am thankful he is such a trooper. I mean 35 family members (half of whom may or may not speak English) can be a lot to handle. Plus he had a lot of Chinese food (but also the traditional turkey, honey baked ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, etc). Everyone loved him, and in true Thanksgiving fashion, he bonded with some of my uncles over football. He really is the best guy. On Friday, I spent a few hours at work (because for some terrible reason, Wall Street decided that the market had to be open on Black Friday, even though you really can't get a discount on stocks), and then we drove up to Reno for second Thanksgiving. Matt's mom is such a trooper because she pretty much cooked Thanksgiving dinner twice (they also celebrated Turkey day on actual Thanksgiving). Since Matt and his brother Brandon (plus me and Brandon's wife Caitlin) couldn't be there on Thursday night, his family decided to redo it again on Friday night. Let me just tell you, the amount of food I consumed the past few days has been pretty obnoxious. But you know what? That's not even that important. It was awesome just being able to eat and laugh and play games. My family played Scattergories and Matt's family chose to play mafia.

I wish Thanksgiving didn't only happen once a year because it really makes you put your life on time out for a second to think about what you are grateful for. And I have so much in my life to be grateful for. So here's my Thankfulness Project list (a little late, but worth the wait):

1. My amazing boyfriend of four and a half years (OMG) who has always been my strongest supporter, my best friend, and the love of my life. This sounds corny, but I don't think I'd be as nice or as patient or as accepting of a person without you in my life. You help me become a better person every day, and I love you for that.
2. My loving family who has always loved me despite my faults (which include but are not limited to my non-stop personality, my quick temper, and my constant need for attention). Thanks for loving me unconditionally and helping me through all the challenges I face.
3. My second family (the Evans) who have welcomed me into their home and their hearts. They really are the best people, and have raised the best son and brother, and my love for them continues to grow every day.
4. The best friends a girl could ever ask for. You guys know who you are and I just want you to know that I couldn't get through a single day without you. Thanks for listening to me whine and going along with my crazy ideas, but more importantly, thanks for always making me laugh and feel loved.
5. Starbucks red cups, because they are the first sign that Christmas is here (and you all know how much I love Christmas).
6. The Giants for winning the World Series. Because everyone needs a reminder that we can do anything if we have a strong support system. Actually, thanks for proving to all the haters that 2010 wasn't a fluke.
7. The city of San Francisco because there is no place I would rather be. You are beautiful and delightful and eclectic and vibrant, and I can't wait to call you home some day.
8. Wreck-It Ralph because it is the greatest movie ever. I've seen it twice already. Clearly I just cannot get enough of it. Plus it's been such a great bonding experience!
9. Having everything I need. I don't ever have to worry about whether or not I'll have dinner, or heat, or how I'm going to pay my bills. Sometimes we take life for granted, so it's nice to remember that no matter how rough my day is, it wasn't really that bad.
10. My faith in God. Sometimes I forget that he is always on my side, and it's nice to know that he never forgets about me.

I hope you and your family had a lovely Thanksgiving. Just take a few seconds to think about what you are thankful for (and if you want to share, we can definitely revamp the Thankfulness Project). Here are some previous lists if you want to check them.

10 Reasons I'm Not A Very Good Blogger

So as you may (or most likely may not) have noticed, I haven't blogged in a very long time. So instead of diving right into a blog post about something completely random, I decided to put up a list...of why I am not a very good blogger...as inspiration to become a better blogger (fingers crossed).

Here's why I am not a very good blogger:

1. Our last blog post is from July...and I didn't even write it. Matt wrote it. My last post was from June. It has been like 5 months. WOW. MAJOR LIFE EVENTS HAVE HAPPENED...without any word on our blog. Going backwards in time (from today)...
• The Lakers got a new head coach -- who is NOT Phil Jackson. Prove yoself D'Antoni.
• Halloween happened!! I was a peacock for Halloween (Matt revisited the Mad Hatter).
• The Giants won the World Series.
• The Taylor Swift CD came out.
• Matt started his final year (aka thesis year) and lives on coffee and anxiety and big dreams.
• One of my oldest friends, Andrew, got married (in the most fabulous and fancy wedding I've ever been to).
• One of Matt's oldest friends, Meaghan, got married. Sweetest wedding ever (see Love is Sweet picture below).
• Matt's sister Abby STARTED COLLEGE. When we started dating, she had just finished up her last year of middle school. Talk about feeling old.
• I turned 24 **insert anxiety attack here**. Don't worry, we played slosh ball (in honor of how mature and grown-up I am).
• My dad opened his new restaurant, Royal Garden, in Cerritos.
2. I rarely talk about anything other than Matt and me. I don't blog about cooking, or shopping, or DIY projects (even though I enjoy all of those things). So really, the only reason to read this blog is to figure out what in the heck Matt and I are up to. 
3. Our pictures are never edited and they never look like they could be published in a magazine. Blogs of the world, tell me how you do it.
4. In connection with that, I'm not a very good photographer. I'm just NEVER ready when something funny or cool or crazy or brilliant happens. Seriously. By the time I whip out my phone, the moment is gone.
5. We are not world travelers, so we have no world wide trekking to blog about. Italy, Brazil, Zimbabwe...we're coming for you someday. 
6. I rarely talk about my feelings, except in moments of severe weakness (and being in a long distance relationship...man I have a lot feelings). I mean really, isn't a blog supposed to be an emotional outlet? Well if it is, I don't use it.
7. We have 9 followers (yes 9 WHOLE followers). 
8. Our blog layout is kind of boring, it really could use an update.
9. Remember those lists we start (our summer list, which launched the blog, or the 7x7 best things to eat in SF list??)....well we never quite get to the end of them. It's not like we proactively give up or anything, they just never really get to the end. But our next list (whatever it shall be) will get finished!
10. The more time that passes, the more thought I feel like needs to go into my next big post...which ultimately gives me a little bit of anxiety (and by a little, I mean a lot). That's honestly probably the biggest reason why I don't blog well, because each day that goes by without a blog post, makes me feel like the next blog post had better be super cool. So here's to hoping my next blog post isn't 6 months from now. Special shoutout to my friend Caroline over at A Foodie's Fun, who reminded me I still have a blog, and who gets equally as much anxiety as I do about not blogging and getting back into blogging shape. Anyways, like I said, here's to opening I'll blog again...sometime this week. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, enjoy the plethora of pictures that's coming at you.

Family Fun Time

After settling into my first full week of work, and Margaret continuing to get to used to the new system at her office, we were in need of a really fun weekend.  Family comes to the rescue!  My mom, dad, and Abby came over to SF along with Abby's friends Matt, Ryan, and Marissa.  Despite having very long drawn out text message conversations about every detail of the trip, we were really excited for them to cruise over to the Bay Area.

The Fam got in on Friday morning to their hotel and did their thing until both Margaret and I were off of work when we met up at Shoreline Amphitheater for the Brad Paisley concert.  Brad also played with The Band Perry and Easton Corbin, and it was a GREAT show!  We had lawn seats so we had the luxury of experiencing the s#%$ show that was every teenager/20 something year old being drunk and sloppy while not paying attention to anything but their phones and getting more beer.  However, this was not unexpected so we were able to laugh about it and, to be honest, I think it made the concert more memorable in a way since we had a good laugh at it.

On Saturday, I met up with my parents and the gang in SF to watch the Giants get slaughtered by the hated rival Dodgers, and Margaret luckily saved herself the agony by staying home and being productive.  We had really nice seats in the third level directly behind home plate where we could see EVERYTHING going on in the game and in the cove.  Despite the score, we had a lot of fun at the ballpark and enjoyed the great weather.  

Margaret trained up to the city to meet us for dinner, where we were headed for Bubba Gump's on Pier 39!!  While she made her way up on the train, Abby and the other munchkins walked to Chinatown to be tourists.  However, I still love Chinatown and I'm not longer a tourist...well sort of.  Anyway, the four of us walked to the car where we needed to locate the nearest gas station because the Yukon had an estimated 30 miles until empty and momma was not feeling comfortable about that whatsoever.  We ended up finding a Shell station down the road so we were all good and on our way to the pier. 

To be honest, both Margaret and I had our reservations about going to Bubba Gump's because we felt that it was simply an expensive tourist trap rather than a high quality restaurant.  We were sooooo wrong!!  The food was amazing!!  Our server was probably the best I have ever had as a restaurant patron, and for once I was stuffed after having a non-sushi-seafood dinner.  Every dish we got was tasty and flavorful and exactly what we wanted!

After dinner, the folks dropped Margaret and I off at the train station and we said our goodbyes...well until we see them Thursday night (we are traveling back to Reno for Meaghan Callahan's wedding!).  We purchased our tickets and boarded the train only to find out that there was apparently a car on the tracks causing over an hour delay.  We got impatient quickly and departed the train station and made our way to a place called Basic Bar to grab a drink and wait it out.  The bar was the perfect setting because we just wanted to grab a drink and be able to relax and not have loud music/people all around us.  They had a tv showing Twitter Tweets from locals about sports and other events and it was this moment that I decided to cave in and make a Twitter account (@doseofevy 13).  The deciding factor was being able to follow the trade deadline talks and that has proven to be an awesome thing because the Giants managed to trade for Hunter Pence!  We are very excited in SF Nation to see how he plays!  

We were mad at Caltrain

And after you're mad, you get bored

This is us...bored.

To sum things up, we had a WONDERFUL weekend full of fun events and memorable experiences.  These weekends make me miss my family a lot, but a 4 hour car drive is not too bad so that is always a good option to see them more often!

You can also follow Margaret on twitter (@margaaareeta).

Sacramento Date

Wow I know it's been almost a month since we blogged. I think I should probably cross blogger off my resume and life description (ok to be truthful, it's not on either of those things). Weirdly enough we have so much to blog about, but it's been feeling kind of chore-ish to blog lately (I think I kind of lost my blog sparkle). Anyways back to the point...last night Matt and I had a date night in Sacramento (long story short, his sister Abby graduated from high school and he was in Reno Wed-Sat and since he was only there until Sat, it was too much work for me to drive all the way to Reno, especially since I've been so swamped at work and I couldn't take time off...so we decided to meet up in Sac). Embarrassingly enough, even though Sacramento is our state capitol, I've only been there once (for a cheer competition I think) so we did a lot of Googling about what to do on a Friday night). We started off by meeting up for All-You-Can-Eat sushi (because it's my favorite thing to do in Reno and I wasn't gonna be in Reno) at Raku Sushi in West Sac. Definitely not as good as the sushi at Jazmin in Reno but definitely fulfilled my sushi craving. Our plan was to catch a drive-in movie but that wasn't until 8:45 so we figured we would kill some time by walking around Ikea (I know we are complete weirdos) and grabbing a drink at a bar we found on Yelp (it had 4.5 stars!) in downtown Sac called Pre-Flite Lounge. This place is such a major hole in the wall (or to be more PC a hole in the mall) but it just had a great vibe -- live band, great margarita, super friendly bartenders (both of them introduced themselves to us and remembered our names and asked us to come back), plus they had hilarious signs on the wall (they believe in the Bobbit theory...if you get too drunk, they cut you off). If you ever stop in Sacramento, Russ makes a mean margarita. Afterwards, we headed off to see Snow White & the Huntsman (yes Kristen Stewart is the worst actress known to man, but Charlize Theron kills it and makes the movie awesome). I've never been to a drive-in movie before, but it is actually a really neat experience. Matt brought Burbara (his Suburban) so we camped out in the back seat with lots of blankets, pillows, and candy. What's even cooler is that it is half the price of a regular movie AND you get two movies for the price of one (so really it's like a quarter of the price). We only stayed for the first movie because the second movie (Battleship) started at 12:00 which means we would be driving home at 2am. We thought about parking Burbara somewhere in Sacramento and just sleeping in the car, but seeing as how neither of us were familiar with Sacramento, we didn't know where to park to avoid being mugged or arrested. We ended up driving home around 1, which was completely exhausting. By the time I got home and in bed, I had been awake for 22 hours straight. But you know what? It was completely worth it. This was one of the best dates we've ever had in my opinion. Even though we only spent about 8 hours together (after a full work day for me), it was well worth the 5.5 hour drive (yes I was in traffic for 3.5 hours on my way to Sac) and being exhausted. It also made me realize that our relationship is so important to me and I love that both of us are willing to do whatever it takes to make things work. Love you Matt.

The only bad thing about the trip is that we forgot to take a lot of pictures!!! But we took a couple...and as you can see, some of them are more entertaining than others. I got bored waiting in line in our cars at the drive-in, so I texted funny pictures to Matt. Yes I am a grown up...I think.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!! 

I can't believe you are 23 (and we are the same age again!!!). I am so grateful we were able to spend your birthday together. You are so incredibly loved by everyone we know (because you are awesome). I hope you had as much fun with all your birthday surprises as I did.

I LOVE YOU!!

4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

On Monday (April 30th), Margaret and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary!  I couldn't be happier to be her man and am extremely excited for her to come down to SD to celebrate this special occasion....AND MY BIRTHDAY!!! Woo woo.  I love you, Margaret!!!!

SPRING BREAK (for Matt at least)!!

Hello! I know it's been almost a quarter century since I last updated this blog, but I wanted to let you know we are alive and kicking!! Matt is the best boyfriend ever. Instead of partying it up in Cancun or gambling away in Vegas, this guy decided to spend his spring break somewhere pretty low key...Sunnyvale! I know I've already told him a million times, but I don't think he realizes how much I appreciate his visit up here. I LOVE YOU MATT. I know it was kind of boring for him, especially since I had to work the entire two weeks he was here. But one of the perks of my job is that I get off at 3:30. He was so nice about it too, he kept saying he knew he had to spend a lot of time working (for Backen and on his scholarships/portfolio). This man is a keeper! Anyways, even though I had to work, we managed to pack in a lot in our two weeks together. 

We made it to some all-you-can-eat buffets (one in San Francisco called Kome with my coworkers, and a sushi buffet called Jazmine with his brother in Reno).

We babysat for one of my coworkers. Seriously, this guy is like a baby whisperer. Or at least a charmer to the boot. Look at him and that baby girl (isn't she the cutest???)! And her brother is a cutie pie too. Surprisingly, we had a blast. Jackson (the boy) is a handful, but in the most fun way possible. Matt and Jackson spent Jackson's last waking half hour running around like maniacs. Jackson probably thinks I'm boring because all I do is read with him. Clearly, there may be some favoritism in the future. 

After work one day, Matt met us in Menlo Park so we could take him to our favorite happy hour spot, the Dutch Goose. Surprisingly I have never had a burger here before, even though everyone I know swoons over them, so it was pretty appropriate that Matt and I both had our first one together. And everyone is right, these burgers are amazing!! Plus they have great sweet potato fries (not pictured). And everything is pretty cheap! Considering how close it is to work, we love their 10 dollar pitchers! We also squeezed in a trip to Yard House with my coworkers, Rica and Maddie. Did you know they have a secret beer menu? Next time you go, make sure you ask for the Berry Crunch beer (yea, it tastes like Captain Crunch with berries).

Dutch Goose!

We also decided to spend some nights in cooking. We made pizza and rice krispies (that looked like Easter egg baskets) and coffee cake for a picnic. I must admit, my own culinary skills continue to surprise me. I used to cook a lot more in college, and I think my love for the kitchen is slowly coming back. And it's stuck around even after Matt left (this week alone, I made No-bake Energy Bites, Smashed Avocado and Chickpea Salad, Rice Krispies (my signature go-to dessert), and even meat loaf for the first time!!! My mom wanted to make sure Matt was well fed, so she packed a bunch of food for him in a cooler for him to drive back down to San Diego. I'm pretty sure she gave him some quick cooking lessons too. 

Making pizza dough!

We took a weekend trip to Reno to see Matt's family. They really are one of the greatest family and are slowly overtaking my best friend's family as my second favorite family (just kidding Amber and the McCormicks). His sister, Abby, is a senior!!!! I know it's a little crazy, especially since I've known her since she was an eighth grade (wow). And it was her prom weekend. I went dress shopping with her and her mom (Abby, you are such a procrastinator) while Matt hung out with his brothers. His mom also threw a small birthday party for Matt, his dad, his brother and his grandpa. And by small, I mean spectacular with decorations, order-up grilled cheeses, and ice cream sundaes. This woman knows how to throw a good party. O and did I mention it snowed? No joke. We drove back in a snow storm. As you can guess, I had a slight panic attack. Who has ever heard of snow in April, right? 

Matt...driving.

Nice find in Matt's closet

We also managed to find some time to squeeze in a date night and an impromptu wine tasting trip. We had a date at Pasta Pomodoro on a Wednesday night. Did you know they have half off wine Wednesdays? Date night plus yummy wine. Matt even let me order white wine since I'm not much of a red wine person. We also had a lunch date on Good Friday, because I'm lucky enough to work in finance, which considers Good Friday a good day to take off (another perk of my job). We grabbed lunch at BJs to watch some of the opening day baseball games, and then decided to drive up to Santa Cruz for some last-minute wine tasting. We stopped at two wineries we had never been to, Villa Del Monte and the Burrell School. Of course, we mostly tasted red wine, but I think my palette is slowly (but surely) growing to like red wine (a little bit at least). And we even made it back in time to catch the first pitch of the Giants' Opening Day at Bowlmor (that bowling alley I've managed to make my favorite bar). I thought it was pretty special that we were able to share the Giants first game together :)

Our friends, Courtney and Tyler, also hosted a Beer Olympics tournament. Yes, it is kind of like the Olympics with lots of beer consumption. Overall, this was one of the most fun days of the entire break. We love Tyler and Courtney...mostly because they like to have fun as much as we do! In case you can't  tell, the four of us were so excited we made t-shirts. Did I mention that there were other people there? Because there were, but we were the only one with team shirts! Of course, our team won!

Massive pizza to end the night

We also made a trip to the church picnic for Easter Sunday. Matt specifically stayed later on his last day to go to the picnic with me. We were lucky enough to catch a beautiful day in San Francisco at the park. He was supposed to leave around 1, but he got sucked into watching the Giants game, so I got to hang out with him for a few more hours.

And we drafted for our fantasy baseball team!!!! He stole Brian Wilson from me (which is realistically a blessing in disguise for me....sorry honey!!!). Thanks for spending your break with me Matt. I can't wait to see you soon...for our four-year anniversary (a little scary right?)!!!!

At least our league name isn't Last Place Margaret again.