It's Always Something

Our tomato plant, named Sweety, gave us many tomatoes almost immediately. Brooklynn + I were so excited to make our first meal using vegetables from our balcony garden. We've waited almost a year for Oscar our Meyer Lemon tree to produce, but he's taking his time. Sweety is the first fruit of our work that we can enjoy. Although, we didn't have to work very hard on her. We chopped the tomatoes to make fresh pizza sauce using the basil from our herb garden. The rest of the tomatoes were used in a fresh gorgonzola salad with bacon + feta cheese. We were quite impressed with how both turned out. You can imagine the difference fresh ingredients make while cooking. We can't wait to expand our garden with aspirations of one day being able to live off the food we are able to grow. Not likely, but we've got to have dreams, right???

As you know, hiking is one of our favorite past times. Today, we invited our friends Shirley + Mila to join us. It was their first hike together, so we had intended on an easy hike; however Brooklynn accidentally chose the more challenging path. Whoops! Shirley + Mila were such troopers! After an hour hike uphill, we found a cluster of large boulders for our break. Here we enjoyed some snacks and the breathtaking view. The kiddos were pretty amazed to see how far we had hiked in just over an hour. They felt accomplished (and excited to go back down). While we all rested on the boulders, we found an abandoned metal box hidden in between the rocks. It had been covered up with brush. We contemplated whether we should investigate the contents of the box. Shirley preferred we leave it alone, but the girls insisted this was an adventure... After weighing the pros + cons of opening the box (pro = fun, con= boring) we removed the box from it's hiding spot and opened it up. I must...

Shortcake, our strawberry box, hasn't bore any fruit yet. We are anxious for the berries to come out so we can make fresh jam for our bagels and toast. Mmmmm... Oscar, our Meyer lemon tree, has been growing for almost a year now. We had hoped she would produce enough fruit to make fresh lemonade, but it doesn't look that way. We'll have to settle for using the lemons on fruit salads, guacamole dip, and any zest needed in recipes. The only plat to produce so far is Sweet T, our tomato plant. She's been producing ever since we were given her. Brooklynn just picked off 12 little tomatoes tonight. We'll use them to make salsa and ketchup. We really dream of having a real garden some day and planting according to the seasons. Doing so isn't so easy on a balcony of a condo, but we're trying to make do.

Brooklynn and I are attempting to become more self-sustaining in hopes that one day (in our dreams) we can live off our farm. While we wait for miracles, we have started growing things as best as we can in our small condo. We started with herbs of parsley, basil, and chives. We hope to add peppermint and lavender, for their healing properties, very soon. Parsley + basil + chives.

We had wanted to head to Muir Woods, but with the Bay Bridge closed for repairs, we decided to stay local. We attempted to find a place in the Los Altos Hills, but I got lost. So we decided to concur a trail in our backyard- Fremont. Hike: Mission Peak Regional Preserve Start time: 11:08 am Ready for our 2.5 hour hike uphill. Brooklynn relied on her her iTouch to keep her going. All smiles as we reached the halfway point where I had bribed Brooklynn with snacks and treats to keep going. LOL. There were to parachuters that hiked up the peak and glided down. So cool! View from (almost) the top. We did it! End time: 2:57 pm I was very proud of Brooklynn with this hike. Although threats and bribery kept her motivated to keep going accompanied with lots of complaints, she made it further than a lot of adults on this hike. It's always a secret enjoyment of mine to push Brooklynn as hard as I can and see her triumph. Now I know I can push her harder on the next hike. Hi5 to that!

As I have said before, I am ever so fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to New York for work every other month. This city is amazing! So many things to do and see. People bustling by with places to be. An undiscovered gem around every corner. (The always amazing Central Park) A large industry conference brought me back to NY this time. A jam packed week of business and pleasure was worth every minute. Here are some pics a nd a list of places I visited during this month's trip: - Babbo Ristorante for happy hour - Landmark for breakfast - the movies to see Funny People (and sleep!) (squishing heads w/ Rod @ the New Yankeee stadium- BoSox vs The Yankees) (the crowded, yet cozy, Westville (EV) for dinner) - the uber hip Coffee Shop (Flatiron) for lunch - Sarabeth's (Upper East Side) for brunch ( the intimate and swanky Village Vanguard (WV) jazz club) (The Guggenheim museum) (Turtles @ The Museum of Natural History) - Central Park - Manhattan Apple Store (insanity here) ...

Today we accompanied the Nakamuras clan + uncle Kenny/auntie Amy/Gavin to a farm in Castro Valley. Brooklynn and I often dream of living and working on a farm, so any time we have the chance to visit one is exciting. This will be our first time gathering fresh eggs straight from the chickens! Yummy! This is Jenny, the farm girl. She is SUPER nice. She answered tons of questions that Brooklynn and I had about farm life, the animals, etc. 1 dozen fresh farm eggs for $3. What a deal! Trivia: Did you know that each chicken lays 1 egg everday ? Brooklynn , like most little girls, has always had a fascination with horses. I would love to put her in riding lessons some day, but Jeff and I disagree tremendously on this matter. Until we are able to come to an agreement about it, she goes without. In the meantime, she enjoys watching them, feeding them, and grooming them whenever possible. Gavin's toes must have been tasty! The farm life appears to be filled with simplicity and n...

Boo's POV of campsite. Goodnight!

Today we celebrated my BFF and Blynn's god-mother's birthday. Opposed to the previous birthdays, we decided to stay very mellow this year with brunch and a morning hike @ Stinson Beach. Although this wasn't an all-out rager , I particularly enjoyed spending quality time with a friend I haven't seen much lately. It was great to catch up, see what old & new, and have the opportunity to enjoy each other and nature. No frills. No fancy entertainment . No extravagance . Just us. @ Fred's Coffee Shop before the hike The leap for joy. The happy dance. Passed out! Happy birthday, to one of my oldest friends. xoxo

B* and I welcomed another new addition to the family- Mary Jane.  She's a 1966 Volkswagen Beetle with a 1300 cc 6-Volt engine.  She's only had one owner and she is saweet!  (above: 92k original miles!) When we took Mary Jane to B*'s soccer practice, the coach thought it would be fun to see how many girls we could get inside.  All 9 girls on the team fit! LOL. I have been talking about getting a bug for over a year before I finally bit the bullet and purchased one.  Although she's in perfect condition right now, there are a few things custom things I will do to make her mine.  Then in 10 years, she will become B*'s.  For now I will be painting her a two-toned green and cream.  B* has decided that when Mary Jane is passed over to her, she will paint it two-toned cotton candy pink and white.  Seriously.  How is this my child?   In any case, when I drive Mary Jane I feel like SO good.  She makes me feel free.  Free of sterotypes.  Free of materialism.  Free of expectati...

(above: bed buddies- Brooklynn & I) The alarm came too quickly this morning.  It would have been nice to sleep in until 8am; however today was my first day at my new job. We all got up, got ready for the day, and headed off to breakfast at Moonstruck right around the corner from our hotel. It was colder and wet today, so rain boots and an umbrella were required.  After the lovely breakfast, I was walked to my new offices in New York at Spire Vision off 34th and Madison Ave.  After a tearful goodbye, Brooklynn moved on to discover New York City and I ventured upstairs to discover my new colleagues.  While I encountered meeting after meeting, my thoughts wondered off thinking about Brooklynn's first day in New York.  Thankfully, I received many pictures and updates about her tour of the American Natural History Museum, her walk through Central Park, and the conversations she carried throughout the day. I was reminded several times today that  Brooklynn is a special, curious, and ...