MLK in Bodega Bay

We are super lucky to have a fun group of friends that we vacation with every MLK weekend. This year it was off to Bodega Bay to check out the seashore, eat, drink, eat some more and play games! We have stayed in some nice places and some not so nice places, but this year's place took the cake. Heated floors? Don't mind if I do...


We brought lots of yummy wine...and of course, a martini shaker.

We had a fabulous brunch at Rocker Oysterfeller's in the historic Valley Ford Hotel. I guess I was enjoying myself so much I forgot to take pictures of my eggs benedict on biscuits...mmmm. We pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves, which was much needed since Nate and his buddy Ben are a busy bunch.

Family pic in front of the Valley Ford Hotel. My head is blocking the historic plaque. Oops.

We played a looong, martini soaked game of Farkle, which is a super fun dice game that I found on Babbling Abby's blog. Thanks Babbling Abby : ) Nate had the time of his life helping shake the dice. He was running around like a total nut with the biggest smile on his face.

Whenever anyone Farkled they got to wear the bunny ears. Kevin was a very good sport. I have a pic of hubby in the bunny ears too, but I'm not going to post because I don't want to end up in the doghouse!

Another weekend favorite was Smart Ass. This game was somuchfun. We all got kind of addicted to the silly trivia and the need to beat our perpetual winner, Haav.

We ended the weekend with some cheese tasting at Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes and a long lunch on a lovely outdoor patio (in January!). I heart living in California. Such a fab weekend. Can't wait for next year!

Playdate

Last week Nate had his best buddy, Ben, over to play while Ben's parents went out for date night.

The boys had some serious chats....


showed each other their stomachs...

gave each other high fives...

worked on a puzzle together...

and ate some puzzle pieces.


What a great night!

Nate in Pictures

You would think with my dad being a professional advertising photographer (he's real good, check out Davidson Studio) we would have had a little photo session with Nate. Not so much. So after 15 months I decided it was time! A couple of weeks ago we had a photo shoot with my sister-in-law's fabulous wedding photographer. It was a bitter cold afternoon and poor Nate was literally shivering. Luckily we got a couple of smiles and some cute pictures! Photos courtesy of John Griffin Photography.

Another Sister, Another Birthday

My little sister turned a whopping 28 years old today. We are celebrating with slow cooker ribs, cornbread and red velvet cake tonight. Don't be jealous!



Happy Birthday Court!

Isn't it fun...

when you watch a movie you've never even heard of and love it?

We happened upon Pirate Radio this weekend and it totally made my night.

Such.a.treat.

I'm a boy mom...for reals

Wednesday night I took Nate to music class at Giggle. When we first got there he had a grand ol' time playing with the instruments and singing along.

About halfway through the class, while all of the little girls (it turned out to be an all girl class and Nate) sang and danced and did the hokey-pokey, my little stinker discovered some stairs leading to a half loft in the music room. Then he discovered that he could climb up onto the stools at the play table. As I tried to corral him back to the music circle for the tenth time in five minutes...it hit me. I have a very busy, somewhat rowdy, always cute as can be, BOY. There have been signs all along. I mean, he did reach out and grab a a big black spider with his bare hands. I am still recovering from the sight of that. This could get interesting.

Oreos + Cream Cheese + Chocolate = Yum

Sometime over the last couple of years I decided to make Oreo truffles my signature cookie. I first had these heavenly chocolate mouthfuls at a party where someone else made them (thanks Kerri Smith and sorry if I stole your signature cookie!) I ate at least ten five truffles and demanded that Kerri share the recipe with me. Those that know me well know that I only like to make EASY recipes with less than ten ingredients. What can I say, I'm lazy like that. How perfect that my favorite cookies fit the bill.

I made a bunch of my drunk friends very happy by making these truffles on NYE and promised I would pass along the recipe. Without further ado...

Step 1 - Open a bag of Oreos and dump them into a food processor (preferably a pretty pink one, like mine). Process until all of the cookies are crumbs.

Step 2 - Drop in an 8 oz package of cream cheese and process until you have one big ball of chocolate cookie dough.

Step 3 - Roll into truffle balls (they are pretty rich, so small is good) and place on cookie sheet. Refrigerate for one hour.

Step 4 - Melt a bag of chocolate chips in the microwave (a double-boiler on the stove works too, but again, I am lazy). Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring in between, to avoid burning the chocolate. Once melted, add a tablespoon of Crisco. This is optional, but the chocolate gets super silky. Dip your truffles into the chocolate, let cool and refrigerate. I rolled the below batch in crushed candy cane for my work cookie exchange. I only covered half of them in candy cane because I got tired half way through. Yeah, I know, I'm lazy.

Enjoy!

So much wonderful-ness

I have never liked January much. This year it's almost worse than ever because we had the very best holiday season. It was just SO MUCH FUN. I want to live in December forever. I know some people complain that it's too hectic, too many parties, too much food, blah blah blah. Not me. I just think it's the BEST.

We spent the weekend before Christmas in San Francisco on a mini break at the Sir Francis Drake hotel in Union Square. The room was teeny tiny small, but our view was awesome. We could see the ice skaters, shoppers, and giant Christmas tree right out our window.

We even found a little spot for Nate's crib. Yes, he is sleeping in the closet - he seemed to rather enjoy his cozy little nook.


We had dinner at Wayfare Tavern with some of our most favorite-est friends and the food and drink (Williams Selyem Pinot..mmmm) were just perfect. Tyler Florance (chef/owner) came out to say hi to some of the guests, but he skipped over us, hmph.


Nate had a fabulous time running around the Christmas tree at Union Square.


Just had to snap a pic of our luggage cart. This is our stuff. For one night in SF. 20 miles from home.


We made the trek down to sunny Hermosa Beach (my hometown) on the day before Christmas Eve. Here we are at the beach on Christmas Eve. And it was hot. Bliss. We ate and drank away the afternoon at a rooftop restaurant looking out at the sand and water.

Nate was most ridiculously spoiled for Christmas. He loved opening his gifts. Some might say that Nate and his mommy have that in common.

We take our wine drinking seriously..as you can see. We actually did a Christmas eve wine exchange which was lots of fun.

Nate also broke out some amazing new dance moves. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but he was waving his arms like a maniac and drooling all over his grandpa. I laughed so hard I cried.

After a wonderful week in LA of fun, family and of course, food, we headed home to celebrate NYE with friends. We had all of our favorite peeps over to ring in the new year while Nate slept peacefully in his crib.

I loved having time off work to snuggle with my baby, watch him turn into a fabulous basketball player (I swear he is!) and spend time with all my most favorite people.

I'll leave you with Nate's new year's resolution.


Happy New Year!