11.20 Sneaky Friends

Monica sent me a surprise package today...
Last week we were chatting about these beautiful scarves. We talk constantly about coveting miscellaneous odds and ends so I never in a million years expected a package from her. I literally cried when I opened the box and saw 2 gorgeous scarves from her. Super generous and thoughtful! She picked great colors didn't she?? Even though I totally look awful. I was just so excited when I got them that I had to do a fast no-makeup selfie to send to her.

12.4: Bright Lights, Big Love

Christmas time is one of the funnest times to play with your camera.

You can't help but smile when you can turn the lights from the office building across the street...

...to one filled with glowing hearts.


Or when the courtyard for the condos next door...

...is suddenly aglow with love.


And isn't it nice to turn this sad, empty parking lot...

...into a spot where a few hearts can light up even the darkest spaces.


Of course, I love the colored lights on my tree...

But when each colored light is transformed into multi mini hearts, I love it even more.


I did it all with this little DIY bokeh filter.
I learned how to make it last year from this website.

So go on...make one for your camera and play and experiment! It's a lot of fun. I promise.

In the meantime, I'll share with you today's box of wonderful winter fruits and veggies...
It was packed to the brim today! It had 2 yellow onions, 1 pound red potatoes, 3 fuji apples, 3 gold bosc pears, 3 eureka lemons, 6 satsuma mandrain oranges, 1 pound baby bok choy, 1 bulb fennel, 1 bunched broccoli, 1 bunched carrots, 1 bunched spinach and a bag of baby mixed lettuce. YUMMY!

I couldn't resist making some roasted veggies for dinner. I used 1/2 the bulb of fennel, all of the carrots, 1/2 of the broccoli, most of the potatoes, some fresh thyme, a little bit of olive oil and a light sprinkling of kosher salt. Is your mouth watering? Plenty for leftovers, too. Unless I have some for a midnight snack!

12.3: It's beginning to look...

A lot like Christmas...
Put the Christmas tree up today! Yipee!!!
Makes me so happy.

1st Christmas party of the season.
Always so much fun getting together with my crafting friends.

12.2: Gettin' Cozy

It's feeling like winter at the hideaway...made coffee cake for brunch and Jimmy put the snowplow on the Rhino in preparation for the winter snow. We're pretty luck in that our neighbor uses it whenever he needs to, and whenever we come up, the driveway is cleared for us to drive up. Jimmy doesn't have to do this anymore:

12.1 Daily December

We're up at the hideaway this weekend, enjoying the cool weather and lots of rain.


Gives me a good opportunity to work on my Christmas cards.

4.30 Chicken Tamale Casserole

If I'm being a good little planner, I try to figure out what to make for dinner for the week so I can get my grocery list together. I've been better this year at menu planning, but still not consistent. While Jimmy can eat the same thing over and over again, I like more of a variety. But sometimes it's daunting searching the internet for a recipe that will satisfy both of us.

But I found a new recipe today that was delicious and will become a part of our regular rotation.
Chicken Tamale Casserole from Valarie's Kitchen. The photo is from her site, too. Her blog has detail step by step photos, so I recommend checking it out for more details.

These are the ingredients I used, in addition to skim milk. I made a green salad to go with it. Yummy and super satisfying. So yummy i forgot to take a photo of the finished dish before shoveling it in.


Chicken Tamale Casserole
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

2 cups shredded cheddar/jack cheese blend, divided
1/3 cup lowfat milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 (14 ounce) can cream style corn
1 (8.5 ounce) box corn bread mix
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1 cup prepared red enchilada sauce
1 (4 ounce) can sliced olives
5 or 6 green onions, chopped
Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl mix together 1/2 cup cheese, milk, egg, cumin, pepper, creamed corn, cornbread mix, and green chiles. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Remove pan from oven and pierce surface liberally with a fork; pour enchilada sauce over top. Top with chicken, sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle with olives and green onions and return to the oven for an additional 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

Cut into squares and serve with sour cream and tortilla chips on the side.

A Sewing Project

I'm not good at sewing. It's a skill I'd like to improve, but I easily get intimidated whenever it's something more than a straight line. But when my cousin asked for some help with a project that just needed a few straight lines sewed together, I knew I could help out.
cutting the pieces.

All cut and ready to sew.

Crossing my fingers my lines are straight.

4.28 Saturday Evening Stroll

We walked to the water this evening before going to dinner. One of our favorite spots is Pier 14. I'm sure I've posted dozens of photos from this very spot, but it never gets old. It's hard to resist being able to stand out in the middle of the water and look back at the city.

Or enjoy the views of the Bay Bridge.

There's also the view of the silhouetted Ferry Building, Embarcadero Center and Transamerica Pyramid Building as the sun sets to the west.

We even saw a jelly fish! We've seen them at aquariums and even dead along the sandy beaches, but this was the 1st time we've seen one in the ocean.

On our way to dinner, I snapped a couple more photos before it got too dark.
We stopped at Justin Herman Plaza to snap a photo of the ferry building with a little bit of the bay bridge peaking out from behind it.

One last capture of a red flower, the tall Embarcadero Center, and half a moon.

{Hello Sun} So happy you're back

People in the park enjoying the sun.

Salad weather and a good book.

Then a nighttime walk for a little treat.

Spring is Gone

Where'd my sun go??? Burrrr!

Spring Cleaning

4.23 Slow but Steady

We're still plugging along with the hideaway remodel. The dust plays quite a number on my asthma and a little bit on my patience but i know in the end it'll all be worth the wait.

4.22 Blooming

took these with my big camera. there is a big quality difference between cell phone pics and a dslr. and while it was fun and creative post-processing these in photoshop, it's much quicker and easier to let the camera do all the work sometimes. ultimately i need both in my photo documenting journey. :)

Lookie Loos

My SIL stayed overnight with us since the show got out late. While her brother slept in today, we were out and about

enjoying breakfast at my new favorite cafe La Boulange,

shopping the farmers market at the Ferry Building,

enjoying a latte from Blue Bottle and

being lookie loos at a condo high rise that has ridiculous views for an even more ridiculous price.

4.20 Bring Out Your Dead

Jimmy's sister and I went to the Orpheum Theatre tonight to see Spamalot. Jimmy's a huge Monty Python fan but a huge theatre hater, so he stayed home. It was awesomely funny and I was surprised at how many skits I recognized from the movie. I didn't realize I paid any attention to the movie when Jimmy watched it.

4.19 The Tenderloin

I had to drive through the Tenderloin to meet my niece for lunch today but if you keep your eyes on the architecture, you'd never know that this is one of the worst neighborhoods in the city.

From the SF Chronicle:
"Repeatedly described in most tourist guides as "the worst neighborhood in San Francisco," the Tenderloin thrives despite its bad rap. Sure, there are Tenderloinloads of drug dealers, addicts, prostitutes and mentally unstable street people, but if you can get past that, you'll find it is also one of the city's most exciting and diverse locales.

Getting its funky, florid nickname from the days when policemen were paid more to work its mean streets, thereby affording the cops better cuts of meat, the Tenderloin is moving up these days. A heavy influx of Vietnamese families in the last two decades has been instrumental in achieving -- if not entirely responsible for -- its face-lift. And then there are those incredibly delicious sandwiches you can get at the corner markets.

This area is perhaps the last frontier in SF's ever-expanding gentrification trend, and you can still stumble on unpolished gems in the form of incredible cooking, unpredictable bar scenes, independently owned stores and great live music.

The streets aren't the cleanest, and you will be approached frequently by strangers, so just stay alert and don't let it get to you. You have to hunt a little harder for your treasures in the 'Loin, but in a city increasingly headed toward high-end everything, it's a small price to pay."

and more at wiki if you're interested.

4.18 Commuting to the East Bay on BART

I had 10 minutes to kill on the platform before my train arrived.
It still fascinates me watching everyone scurrying around below ground going here and there.
A train arriving.

Boarding.

Fast.

Places to go, people to see, things to do.

On the train, waiting to exit.

Quiet Sunday

At the parentals for dinner. Their lemon trees were bursting so we brought home about 2 dozen lemons. Who's coming over for some lemonade?

4.14 Tea for Three

Celebrated my cousin's birthday today with a little tea party with her daughter.

I feel a little guilty because it seemed like the birthday treat was more for her daughter than for my cousin. But we enjoyed some girlie time without the husbands and big brother.

Fast forward 9 hours when I was playing on the computer and I hear a series of loud booms. I wondered if they were blowing up the building that's under construction across the street. Then I remembered there was a Giants game tonight and ran to the back window...yup! Fireworks!

The building behind us obstructs most of the view, but we caught a few glimpses of them. Fireworks never get old, it's always a thrill.

Since our adrenaline was up after watching them, we decided to go on a nighttime walk around town.
A few buildings near Union Square.

We saw some interesting mannequins in some fancy clothing boutique.

Though I'm not entirely sure if those mannequins are fancy or freaky.