Cherry Lake

I had the chance to kayak with my mom and Reggie at Cherry Lake this weekend. The weather was beautiful, the water warm, and the company, amazing! Thank goodness for 3 day weekends - they really feed my soul!

Finally....Montana pics!

It's been almost a week since I returned from Montana and I'm finally settling back into my normal routine....I have to admit, I did not want to leave Montana! This trip was a very emotional one for me (the retreat was very intense and required ALOT of work to support), and, adventuring in Yellowstone and the surrounding wilderness was absolutely beautiful, and spiritual as well (I know, I'm not a mushy person...but it was!) I could have stayed for 3 more weeks at least.

Though I was only there for a week, I was able to explore a lot of the area. First off, Rock Creek Resort was beautiful, the staff was nice, and the location was amazing! As I mentioned, the retreat was a lot of work, but I did get to have a little bit of fun (mostly at the pig races)...check out the video I took here...it pretty much explains it all!



Once the retreat was done, Barbara and I headed to Yellowstone. I had never been before and was really looking forward to it. After stopping at many full campsites along the way, we finally set up camp on night 1 outside of Gardiner, MT. From there we were able to somewhat plan our next 2 days and enjoy the fresh mountain air. We almost went on a rafting trip, but decided against it because we wouldn't have enough time (however, we're planning on doing it next year!)

The following 2 days were spent at this small little campground in Yellowstone called "Slough Creek". It's apparently renowned in the angling world as a great place to fly fish. It's also in the heart of grizzly country, so Barbara and I were always a little on edge about that at night (well, it was nothing a couple beers couldn't get rid of!) We hung out at camp a lot, and also headed down to the waterfalls of Yellowstone and also the Lake. There was a huge fire that we watched from the porch of the Lake Lodge (while eating ice cream...it was heavenly!) We were also in the background of a film that was being produced by the park service - it was about places to go in the park. Look for it in the fall! (all you will see are our feet and our backs, and maybe the ice cream cone!) It was cool though, to be a part of that.

I've put all of the pictures on my flicker account, because there were too many to put on my blog. Please, check the out by clicking here!

Workin' in Montana

Yes folks, I said WORKING! The event I'm working is a "retreat", but it's not a retreat for me by any means! I arrived on Tuesday afternoon in Red Lodge, MT and have been working hard ever since. Some of you may have heard on the news about the fire that's about 8 miles outside of Red Lodge. Luckily it's not close to the resort we're staying at, but we can still smell the smoke and have seen firefighters in town.

We're already into Day 2, and folks are really enjoying themselves. I've been able to try some good Montana-brewed beer, eat some yummy local beef, and have heard about all of the fun local spots to check out from the hotel staff (including a saloon outside of town that has PIG RACES! We're going to check them out tonight, and I can't wait!) Of course, I'll blog about those tomorrow.

I have to admit that I'm really looking forward to the next part of the trip, which is when Barbara (friend/co-worker) and I will be venturing into the Yellowstone wilderness. We've already been warned about the bears (and I was even given "bear spray" in case they attack). I'm hoping that we will avoid an attacking bear, but I wouldn't mind seeing one or a few moose. More stories and pics to come, but enjoy the few I've already taken.

Rock Creek Resort

My room (it has a full kitchen, whoohoo!)
The view from my room

Rock Creek is right outside of my room

Resort again

Montana here I come!

So many of you might know that I will be leaving tomorrow on a trip to Montana. Yeah! This is a part work/part vacation trip that I've been planning since about January. The first 6 days I'll be working an event at the Rock Creek Resort outside of Red Lodge. Then, a co-worker and I will head down to Yellowstone National Park for a little bit 'o camping and adventure. I definitely plan on seeing lots of buffalo, hopefully no bears, and lots of beautiful scenary. I've actually never been to Yellowstone, so I'm really looking forward to seeing this amazing country. Oh yeah, and I also plan on karaoke-ing at a few of the Red Lodge bars. Watch out Montana, here I come!

Wordle

I've found another thing that will keep me busy for HOURS on end...it's a link from one of my favorite blogs, How About Orange, on how to create your own Wordle graphic. Here's what Wordle created with the words I've used in this blog:


(Click on the image to enlarge it)

Another quick project

I'm almost done revamping my craft studio, and should have pics posted by this weekend.

In the meantime, I've made another little owl that is a "quick" craft project. I have made these cuties previously for both Cadence and Malcolm, but I hadn't made one for myself! This one didn't take too long, and I realized (after Paul told me) that he's quite a festive Christmas-y owl. Luckily I have some of the fabric left, and I think it would be great for some handcrafted Christmas ornaments!

Jammin'

Berkeley Bowl was having a sale on strawberries, so I bought a few containers and decided to make jam. I found some cute, small little jars at my favorite Alameda hardware store, Paganos, and used them for the jam. I found a recipe that didn't include pectin (because, well, I didn't have any on hand!), and tried to limit how much sugar went into the recipe. Though the jam did turned out a little runny, it's still delicious! (and easily spreadable on toast or as an ice cream topping). Paul definitely approves.

Drawstring bags

I'm always looking for a fun project that is simple, requires few materials, and can be finished before my crafting ADD kicks in. Lately I've been using my favorite Hello Kitty drawstring pouch to keep my purse essentials in (this makes the transferring of the purses a lot easier)...so I decided to make a few more using some scrap fabric I had lying around.

The first 2 are nothing fancy - just fun fabric I had leftover. The last I tried embellish a little bit, and I embroidered a cute little bird on. I think they turned out pretty great, and I'm looking forward to making lots more of these for my buddies. In fact, these 3 will be given away tonight at our Ladies that Dine dinner!

Crafty ideas

So Paul and I have been in our apartment for about a year now, and I'm itching to get out. Not because it isn't a fabulous apartment, just that I'm really wanting a balcony to put all my plants on, and a 2nd bedroom for guests and my crafts :) Selfish, I know! Well, we won't be moving any time soon, as it's a great location and price...so until then, I'm making do with what I've got and I'm rearranging and decorating like nobody's business.

Last night I began the process of setting up my craft station in our bedroom. There's a little nook next to our closet that I've been eyeing since we moved in. I'm not quite done yet (but will post pics soon!) I'm getting some inspiration from Alicia Paulson's studio:




Now granted, she's a full time crafter, so I could never replicate her cute studio - however, I'm gonna try to make my little corner as cute as possible! Luckily I have a weekend all to myself (the first in months!), and I plan on sprucing up the apartment as much as possible :)

San Simeon

This past weekend Marie, Cadence and I, along with her childhood friend Hunter and his partner Lee, took a little trip down to San Simeon for some camping, beach, and castle time. I had never been to Hearst Castle before, and had imagined it to be this huge castle on the ocean, but I was very surprised to see that it was way on top of a hill overlooking the beautiful pacific. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself here....

Friday we headed down the 101 and across the 46 to the small town of Cambria, then up hwy 1 to San Simeon State Park. We had reservations in the "primitive camp" (i.e. no showers and clean pit toilets), which was just fine. Our site was on a bluff overlooking the ocean and the hills, and was just gorgeous. Surprisingly, we were allowed to have campfires (even though all of CA is burning), and, not one to pass on campfires, we bought some wood from the camp host and burned one down.

The following morning we went to Hearst Castle. Holy tourist trap! Well, not really a tourist trap, but there were a lot of tourists there. We all loaded on a bus and made the trek up the hill. Did you know the W.R. Hearst had a zoo there too? And that the relatives of his zebras are still roaming around there? Anyway, needless to say the castle lived up to it's extreme, lavish expectations. I LOVED it. The gardens were beautiful, the pool was something out of a movie, the indoor swimming pool took 3 years to tile, and the "small" guest house was, like, 5,000 square feet. I was taking pics non-stop. Our tour lady was very informative, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is nearby.



After the tour, we headed out to the beach for some serious lounge/beer drinking time. I watched Cadence while the boys took a walk, and Marie (almost) took a swim. The weather was just perfect - not too hot, but warm enough to wear shorts and a tank top. We were expecting it to be freezing (come on, it's the Central Coast!) but we were very surprised to have such great weather.



All in all, it was a lovely weekend! I can't wait to go back and bring Paul on the tour. The campground we stayed at was also great, and would recommend to anyone that has kids (if I were a kid, I would LOVE it there!)

4th of July fun

Cadence in her 4th of July finest
Who doesn't love giant goldfish?
Marie and Cadence at the beach

I know it's been almost 2 weeks since the 4th, but I haven't had time to post these pics yet! Anyway I had SUCH a great 4th of July weekend. In case you didn't know, my stepbrother Dylan (who's in the Army) has returned home safely from Iraq - and he doesn't have to go back. Hooray! So it was a special 4th of July celebration. The weekend included fun (white trashy) activities like playing horse shoes, drinking beers, and swimming. We watched the PML fireworks from my dad's deck and they were good, but not as spectacular as I remembered (I was 10, what do you expect?)

Everyone at the Iron Door bought Dylan a welcome home beer
Emily, Aaron, and Dana
Dad and Tish

Summer eats

I'm not sure if I've told ya'll about the other blog I keep:

Ladies that Dine

Some of you may know that I have a weekly dinner with 3 of my bestest friends in the Bay Area (Erin, Jenny, and Marcelle). We decided to keep a blog where we could post our dinner dates, pictures, and recipes. I'm the editor of it, so between this blog and that one, I'm a bloggin' maniac.

Anyway, check it out! We've made a lot of tasty things throughout the past year, and the list keeps growing. And if you're ever in the Bay, come on over!

Happy 1st bday Cadence!

We celebrated Cadence's 1st birthday yesterday at this big grassy park in Vallejo. All of the Bolings were there to celebrate, and lots of Cadence's friends. Enjoy the pics - I can't believe she's getting so big!

pumpkin cupcakes

I found this great recipe for low-cal chocolate cupcakes in my hungry girl cookbook. Instead of using eggs and oil, you simply mix a box of chocolate cake mix with a can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, just canned pumpkin). The batter is SUPER thick, and it seems like you need to add water, but don't give in! They took about 20 minutes to bake and turned out excellent! They don't really taste like pumpkin, but they are super moist and delish! I didn't put any frosting on them because they were just good by themselves. I gave some out to friends and they really enjoyed them (and had no idea they had pumpkin in them!) Paul didn't like them too much, but his co-workers did!

I want this book!

Some of you may not have seen my indoor "urban garden", but it's growing wonderfully! I'll post pics of my ripe cherry tomatoes (have already picked 4 of them!), my rapidly growing basil, mint, and rosemary soon. I keep whining to Paul that I want to move into a new place that has a space that I can garden in, but until then, I'm settling for lots of potted veg and herbs in the kitchen window sill.

and P.S., this book looks great!

Kris and Dave's wedding

I'm back in the East bay recovering after a fun filled week of visiting friends and family...and 1 spectacular wedding! I had such a great time on my mini-vacation and got to hang out with some pretty fun people. Check out my slideshow of pics from Kristin and Dave's wedding (the highlight of my vacation). It was definitely one of the best weddings I've ever been to! I was so happy to be a part of their special day. Now it's back to the grindstone for me...but congrats again to the happy couple!!

Philly pics

Sorry it's taken me so long to post these from Philly...

Paul and his cheesesteak
Philly Friends Meeting House

Paul and his grandmother at Longwood Gardens

Longwood Gardens bush sculptures. See Paul behind the dog??

I have lots more pics and will be making a slideshow soon...these are just the preview shots!

Busy times

Wow! Let me catch my breath. As I mentioned in my last post, I've got a lot goin' on these next 2 weeks. I'm especially looking forward to:

- Going out on Folsom lake with my family on Saturday...I might even get on the double water skis like I did last summer. I hope it's REALLY hot so I can just swim and drink beers all day!

- Visiting my friend Kim in Truckee. I'm hoping that get intertubes and float down the Truckee river (at least that's the plan). Kim has to work on Tuesday, so I plan on doing a solo hike or maybe just relax on one of the docks on Donner Lake.

- And finally, Kristin and Dave's wedding! For those of you who may not know this, my best childhood friend is getting hitched on Saturday June 21st. I'm soooo excited for her and Dave, and can't wait to be a part of their special day. Kris, her mom and I are doing all of the flowers for the wedding (I'll take pics, of course!) which I'm excited about (you know how I love flowers, and crafty things).

That's about it. It's a mouthful, I know! But I'm really looking forward to my "mini-vacation".

Rocky Mtn. High

I'm here in Denver, playing on my computer while taking notes for my Leadership Team meeting. I came here yesterday at 9am (after catching a 5:45am flight outta Oakland)for this quick overnight meeting. As I was waiting for the hotel shuttle at the airport, a woman asked me, "what is the name of those mountains over there?", and I replied "oh, those are the Rocky Mountains!" She got so excited and took her camera out, and started singing "Rocky Mountain high"...I watched her stuff while she tried to get the best angle of the mountains (trying not to include the various buses that were blocking her view). I think I made her day.

I couldn't help but reminisce on the times that I have spent in Denver, Colorado, and this part of the west. Like the time Amy, Sky and I took a road trip through Steamboat springs, stopping in Rocky Mtn. National Park, up to Boulder (slept on the side of the road), and then down to Denver (with many fun stops along the way...especially to the Coors light brewery!) Or the time I came to visit my aunt and uncle who were living here, and we went up to Pikes Peak and down to Red Rocks and Valley of the Gods. This state is absolutely gorgeous...

The meeting went really well, and I passed out early because I was pretty exhausted. I talked to Paul right before I fell asleep, and he was at the A's game, trying to sneak into the luxury boxes. Him and Martin and some other buddies had been tailgating at the game, and were up to no good. I wish I could've joined them!

Go Celtics!

I just realized that I haven't blogged in a month! Bad, bad, bad...

Well, I'm happy to report that May flew by really quickly, with a trip to Philly to see Paul's fam (will post pics later). We had a great time visiting everyone, and Paul gave me the full-on Philly tour (complete with a few cheese steaks. Yum!)

Now that it's June, I'm looking forward to a month of fun things. Tomorrow I head out to Denver for an overnight meeting. Then next week is my cousin Melissa's 8th grade graduation (I can't believe she'll be in high school next year!) After that I have a week off, and am taking a mini-road trip to see some family in Folsom, river friends in Placerville, and my dear friend Kim in Truckee. Then, I head down to SC for Kristin and Dave's wedding. Whheeeeee! This month is gonna fly by!

I've also started another blog for my dinner group: http://ladiesthatdine.webpress.com
Check it out!

And GO CELTICS!!

27th birthday fun

I have to admit that my 27th birthday was one of the best ones that I've had in a LONG time! We started off a day early and headed down to Aptos and stayed at the Beach house with my dad and stepmom. Basically did all of my favorite Santa Cruz things - went to Bookshop SC, Streetlight Records, and Mobo sushi. Yum! After a few walks on the beach with Duke (the dog), we had dinner and a few of my SC friends stopped by. As the night progressed we had a fire, drank more beers, and walked over to the Mediteranean to have more birthday drinks, play pool, and play tunes from the great juke box. It was a great way to start out the day!

Saturday was a day of preparing for my party - we eventually made it home to Alameda and I finished off the preparations for the party. We had a great BBQ early in the night, complete with polish dogs cooked on the little webber grill. Paul let Cadence eat grass while Marie wasn't looking.

People started coming over around 8pm - about 25 people showed up to wish me a happy birthday and drink birthday mojitos (my favorite!) I had such a great time (as you can tell by the pictures) and was so happy to share the day with friends and family.

It's my party...

...and I'll cry if I want to!



Yup Yup, the countdown is ON - only 2 days til I turn 27! I'm planning a big birthday bash at my house Saturday night. If you're in the area, come on over!

Babies and the beach

If you live in California, there's no doubt that you spent yesterday outside basking in the sun! Marie, Cadence and I took advantage of the hot, sunny weather and headed west to Stinson Beach. I couldn't believe how many people were there, and how hot it was! We met up with some of Marie's friends (I was the only one sans baby) and played in the ocean, drank beers, and soaked up the sun. Yes, I do admit that I may have soaked up too much sun (nothing aloe vera gel can't make better!) Of course I was the resident photographer and was able to capture the many times Cadence ate sand (much to Marie's dismay)

Spring Camping

What a weekend we had! For the 2nd annual spring camping trip (this year held at Samuel P. Taylor State Park north of Marin) there were 16 adults, 1 baby girl, and lots of good times. We lucked out and moved to our very own group camping site, where we could be as loud and silly as we wanted to be! Friday night was a Mexican theme - tacos, cervesas, and LOTS of tequila. Saturday we basked in the sun on a random hill, played cards, attempted 2 different crossword puzzles, and hiked (almost to the top) of Mt. Barnabe. The wind was howling the whole weekend, which made it a little difficult to hike (and to keep warm...we spent most of the nights huddled around the fire!) There was only 1 serious raccoon accident (he came in the middle of the night, ate 6 eggs, a loaf of bread, and a whole bag of marshmellows!) Check out the slide show for some great pics!

Happy Earth Day!

Hope you all do something for the earth today! And check out Google's earth day image - I kinda like it!

Why I love cats...

...must...watch....NOW!

What I made...

My first apron - didn't follow any pattern, but did have a little help from an old ARTA apron I found around the house.