Breast Cancer 3-Day

Last weekend, my mom and I traveled to San Diego to participate in The Breast Cancer 3-Day, benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The 3-Day is a 60-mile walk, approximately 20 miles per day.

I had heard great things about the walk from Amber (who participated last year), and the cause is near and dear to my heart (no pun intended), so I talked my mom into signing up with me. My mom and both my grandmas have battled breast cancer. My mom was diagnosed right before my senior year of high school, went through aggressive chemotherapy and radiation, and, thank God, has been cancer-free ever since.

So, it was a pretty powerful weekend. Here's us right before the opening ceremony at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.


We look so happy and energetic. The energy did not last. :)

They passed out pink bunny ears at the entrance. You will see them in lots of pictures to come...


The Opening Ceremony was very inspirational and powerful. My mom and I got a little emotional when they honored the survivors and those who had lost their lives to breast cancer.


Survivors' Circle.


And, we were off! (How cute is my mom?)


I have to say that one of the very best things about the walk is the people on the side of the road that come out to cheer the walkers on. Sometimes referred to as "Walker Stalkers," they show up in crazy outfits, with funny and inspirational signs, and blast music and cheer as you go. It is very motivating and makes the walk even more fun! I took a lot of pictures of the walker stalkers that I plan to post below. Sure enough, there were some awesome people waiting to cheer us on as we left the Opening Ceremony and started the walk.


My mom and Billy. :)


Also, there were a lot of boobs and boob puns on the walk.

Boob hats!


Another awesome part of the walk are the bikers and San Jose police officers who volunteer to direct traffic. Nothing like seeing a biker in leather ... and a pink tutu! :)


More cheering...


...and tutus!




Mom on the trail.


The route was absolutely stunning.


Some funny cars and sweep vans. Prepare yourself for boob puns.




Pirate-themed van.








There were also some crazy spirited outfits by some of the walkers. I took pictures of a few of my favorites...










Every few miles, there is a "pit stop," with food, drinks, and port-a-potties.


After some refueling, it's back on the road.




There are a ton of dogs on the route, too. These were my favorites.


Again, it was a gorgeous, gorgeous walk.






Bikers/cheerers outside of Pit Stop 2.


Walking into Pit Stop 2.


Walk on!


After that pit stop, we hiked up a long, long hill. It was tough. I took no pictures. Looking back through the pictures, I noticed our energy start to drop...


Ahh, lunch.


My feet were already hurting and blistering, despite the right socks, shoes, and blister shield. A little icing, and then we pressed on.


Walking through La Jolla, my mom recognized my Grandma's former neighbor and dear friend, Phyllis, sitting on the side of the road cheering the walkers on! It was a very cool coincidence.


We arrived at camp, and set up our tent and sleeping bags.




There aren't very many pictures from Day 2. We were both pretty tired and focused on powering through the day. However, I resolved to take more pictures on Day 3, and so there are a ton from our last day.

Here we are, about to leave camp. Next stop ... the finish line! (By way of lunch, of course.)




More amazing people cheering the walkers on.






Sort of wrong, but made me laugh.










I love this picture so much.












Boob helmet!


We picked up some buttons along the route.




As I said before, the San Jose Police were so amazing. And funny. There is apparently a waiting list for them to use their vacation time to come down to San Diego to volunteer for the walk. Pretty awesome.


Some had speakers hooked up to the back of their bikes that blasted lots of fun, girly music.


As we neared the end of the third day, we really pushed ourselves. I had a ton of blisters on both feet, but we were determined to finish.

I passed this dog about a mile from finishing, and I believe he felt what I was feeling...


So many people, cheering us on to finish.


And...we made it!!


Walkers got white victory shirts, and survivors were given pink ones. They then had the survivors gather on a hill so they could make a special entrance into the Closing Ceremony. There's my mom, front and center!


When the survivors paraded in, everyone took off one walking shoe and held it up as a tribute to the survivors. It made me tear up. It was very powerful.




I love this picture of my mom walking in with the other survivors.


The Closing Ceremony was awesome. They announced that our event raised $9.5 million for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Pretty awesome.


Overall, the Walk was an incredible experience. After the first day, my mom and I were exhausted and wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. But, by Day 3, we agreed that it was an amazing weekend and have been seriously considering signing up for 2010. (Maybe once those blisters heal!)

Many thanks to all of you who sponsored me, wished me luck, and supported me.

the last couple weeks of July: a quick and dirty rundown

Wow, there's so much to catch up on. What a busy summer. Since I am so behind, here is the gist of what we have been up to around here ...

We have been lucky to have many out-of-town visitors the past few weeks. A dear friend of mine from high school, Peter, his lovely wife, Bree, and their three kids (!) are driving cross-country and decided to make a one-day stopover at our house. Unfortunately and fortunately, their transmission blew out in Burbank on the way to our house. I say "fortunately," because they ended up staying several days with us, and it was so wonderful to spend so much time with this awesome fam!


After Peter and Bree left, Josh's sister, Jenni, and her man arrived. Josh took them golfing and to the beach, and we all met up for a succulent dinner at Boa. We also took them to the Hollywood Bowl to see "Guys and Dolls," starring Jessica Biel (she can sing?), Scott Bakula (wow, haven't heard that name in awhile), and Brian Stokes Mitchell (love). I love the Bowl.

At the end of July, we also went to Taste of Camarillo with my dad, sis, and Anthony. I was impressed my once sleepy hometown had such a nice little event. It was held at the Camarillo house (a major soft spot in my heart because it was the site of our wedding reception and because of the Girl Scout sleepovers we used to have there before the City owned it and the Camarillo family still lived there).




There was lots of delicious wine.


And our little plates could barely hold all the food we wanted to try.




I have also been busy around here planning Bug's engagement party, shower, and bachelorette planning. Phew. I forgot how much work weddings are!

What else ... I am plowing through my summer reading list and have been doing a little sewing (God, that sounds old). I'll post some pics once there are good sewing projects to show.

I also have been looking at vacation sites like a teenaged boy looks at porn, but alas, I do not think it's in the cards this summer. But ... we do have a trip to Paris for New Year's planned. Watching Julie & Julia last night got me all excited to go back to the City of Lights. Must hang on until then.

One things I should be doing but have not been disciplined about is training for the 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk coming up in November. My mom (a breast cancer survivor) and I are doing the 60-mike San Diego walk -- 20 miles per day for 3 days. I am proud to say I met my fundraising goal, now I just need to ensure I do not pass out on the side of the road. I bought the shoes, and now is the time to break those puppies in!

For now, though, we are off to my grandma's house where, inevitably, we will be stuffed with delicious, home cooked Italian food. Somewhat counterproductive to the above resolution to start training, but that is why tomorrow was invented, right?

Another weekend, come and gone.

Mondays just don't seem as bad after a really great weekend. My dear friend Taryn flew in from Seattle Wednesday and spent all weekend with us.

Here's the quick and dirty of the trip (unfortunately no pics -- I am currently in a no-photos-of-me phase): Wednesday night, we met up with Jackie and PJ at Salsa & Beer -- an amazing hole-in-the-wall Mexican food restaurant in the Valley. Thursday, she hung out by the pool while I was at work, and then we made dinner, drank some wine, and caught up. Friday brought Happy Hour after work and then some awesomely bad junk food. Saturday, we took a walk, went to see The Proposal (which was very cute), and then had a bbq at our house (of course) with margaritas and mojitos galore. Sadly, Taryn left for Seattle bright and early Sunday morning.

Sunday, my grandma helped me pick out a spot for Bug's bridal shower and then we had a delicious brunch at Marston's (my favorite grandma-and-me lunch spot). Sunday night, Josh and I saw Bruno. It was, in a word, "eh."

So far, I am still on the sewing kick, too. I have been working on a quilt for my mom using Moda's Gypsy Rose by Fig Tree Quilts.


I am so in love with this fabric, I ordered extra to make myself a quilt of my very own from it.

I also enrolled in this Mystery Block of the Month from Fat Quarter Shop. This is ideal since the limited commitment of one block a month may jive with my (sometimes unpredictably hectic) work schedule. Here is my first, completed block.


It's funny how much satisfaction I got from making this little guy. It's nice to feel like I made something, completed a project, did something creative even. Turns out arts and crafts make for excellent stress relief.

my long absence, some news, and grilled cheese sandwiches.

There's a lot to catch up on since my last post a hundred years ago. A lot happened. I kept meaning to post. And, I didn't. I guess I have writer's block. Lately, I have been feeling like I don't have anything interesting to post and am unsure the purpose this blog really serves. But, I guess for now, I've resolved to not caring if it's purposeless.

So, with that, on with today.

To kick off the three-day weekend, Josh and I decided to have date night on Thursday night. I have been craving grilled cheese forever, so we thought we'd check out Grilled Cheese Night at Campanille. I snapped a couple pics with my iPhone.

I ordered the Croquet Madame, a grilled ham and Gruyere cheese sandwich with a fried egg on top. It was delicious! The crunchy bread with the velvety egg yolk -- so good! That plus a stellar glass of red wine, I was a happy camper.


Josh ordered the regular grilled cheese with the onions and mustard. He was a little hesitant about adding the onions and mustard to a perfectly good grilled cheese sandwich, but after the first bite, he was converted.


Our sandwiches came with fries. Perfect texture and salty. Very good.


For dessert, we ordered a fruit cobbler. The ice cream was so creamy. It reminded me of the ice cream my Aunt in England used to buy that was all cream -- so rich and good.


Overall, we gave our experience at Campanille a big thumbs up.

In other news, I am on some sort of weird sewing kick all of a sudden. I have been learning to sew and have completed a few small projects. I may not seem like the domestic type (although, you may know that I love to knit), so I was as surprised as anyone with this new hobby. But, it's so fun! It's nice to be creative and make something that's actually useful! So, now you are prepared for some possible sewing posts in the near future.

Saving the best for last, the most exciting news as of lately is that my little sister, Bug, is engaged! Ajax popped the question last week, and my sis is already planning her spring wedding. I'm so thrilled for her and cannot wait for the big day!

With that, I'm out for now. I'll try not to disappear again for so long. ;)

Strollin' through the Strawberry Festival.

After sleeping in and vegging out until the early afternoon, Josh and I decided to get our butts in gear and go do something. Josh suggested the California Strawberry Festival. I haven't been since I was little, and it sounded like fun, so off we went.

It was crowded. And dusty. Lots of little kids. And strawberries.


I was hungry. We weighed our options.

Strawberry pizza?


Strawberry nachos?


Hmm. I decided on a tri-tip sandwich.


While getting food, we saw an old friend of mine -- Strawberry Shortcake. Man, I loved her back in the day.


Also saw clowns on tricycles.


There was some live music in the form of a washed-up 70s cover band. Dude was into it.


We decided we couldn't come all the way to the strawberry festival and not eat strawberries. Behold, our delish dessert.


Mmmm...funnel cake...


We wandered around a little more, checking out some of the craft booths. Overall, it was a good event, although the admission ticket price was pretty steep considering it was essentially a strawberry-themed street fair on steroids. Still. It was a nice day.

(Grand)Mother's Day 2009

We spent the morning of Josh's actual birthday having brunch with my grandma for Mother's Day. Sadly, both of our moms live far north (Josh's mom in Olympia, mine in Alaska), but luckily my grandma is close by, so we got to celebrate with her.

My grandma loves the brunch at the Embassy Suites by her house. No idea why. I thought the food was mediocre, at best. But, I kept my mouth shut. Whatever Grandma wants, right?


One plus -- lots of champagne.
Since it was his birthday, Josh was triple-fisting it.


My sis and Uncle Frank.


Bug and Ajax.




My grandma and grandpa. So cute.


Happy (belated) Mother's Day to my grandma, our moms, and all the other moms out there!

Craft Beer Fest L.A. + Chaya Happy Hour

Josh's 29h birthday is Sunday, so to celebrate, he wanted to check out Craft Beer Fest L.A. happening in Echo Park this weekend and then maybe go out for some drinks. (I really feel like "Beerfest" should be one word ... anyone with me?)

Jackie and PJ were awesome and arrived to Beerfest (that's it, I'm making it one word) early. All of the tickets were sold out earlier this week, so we decided to take our chances at the door. Josh, Bug, Ajax, and I met up with Jackie and PJ in line.


Thankfully, because of Jackie and PJ, we were at the very front of the line, so it wasn't long before they let us in.


Beerfest was held in the Echoplex, a concert venue. Once inside, we were handed tasting glasses and 15 drink tickets each.


It was crowded and dark inside, so none of my pictures turned out -- everything was fuzzy like this.


(Any tips for taking pics in low lighting? The auto setting always makes everything in the background black.)

The inside had two bars set up for tasting and a bunch of food, including gourmet cheeses, pizza, burritos, and beer-flavored ice cream from Scoops (Guinness chocolate and Hefeweizen infused banana). Yum!

Some of the best beer we tried, in my humble opinion, was the Pizza Port Hefeweizen (tasted like coconut!), the Crafstman Scottish Isle, and some of the beers from Bruery. PJ loved the special release Pale Ale from Stone Brewing, and Josh was pretty much in heaven.

A (blurry) pic of my glass.


Josh and PJ -- who loves Beerfest? :)


Group pics (sans Jackie and me)


Next stop was Chaya downtown for their awesome Happy Hour.

Josh and PJ with chopsticks. I swear, I can never get a nice, not goofy picture of these two!


We ordered some apps and a few more drinks (Jackie and I stuck with water since we were the DDs). Chaya is delicious -- I occasionally will eat lunch here with co-workers -- and their Happy Hour is a terrific value for the quality of food. We ordered hummus, some sushi, the lamb and gorgonzola sliders, and the calamari (which was salty and scrumptious). Luckily, Chaya was a little dead, given that the rest of the kids had that loud, I-just-drank-a-bunch-of-beer-at-Beerfest-and-can't-control-my-volume thing going on. We were having fun, and luckily, we didn't spoil anyone's dinner! :)

After some beer, Josh decided to switch to sake. Speaking of trying to get a nice picture of Josh and PJ, sake and drunkenness sure did not help my cause. The next three pictures crack me up.







Sigh. :)

Josh's 29th Birthday is tomorrow! One more year until the big 3-0! Happy Birthday, sweetheart!