Swede Goodbyes

October 18, 2007

Our good friend, Anna, has made the big decision to move back home to Sweden. So the girls got together last night to have dinner at my house (girls night when Will's away!).

Our menu included: ahi tuna tartare with taro chips, blue cheese-filled mini burgers, miso-glazed salmon, fresh salad with all the fixin's, and a Just Desserts pumpkin cheesecake...mmmm...








We're terribly sad to see our little Swede go (boo!), but alas, she can always come back to visit and now we have a good reason to go to Sweden!

Bib Dining

October 15, 2007

A couple years ago, we bought a bunch of lobsters from a place in South San Francisco near Genentech and had a little lobster party. For some reason, we haven't done this on a regular basis, which is a travesty, considering how much I love lobster and how much cheaper it is to do-it-yourself.

So, we finally got around to picking a night and I went ahead and ordered the lobster. It's a great place called New England Lobster and Seafood Company, and they have pretty good prices on fresh seafood. However, if you're ever interested in getting lobster from here, keep in mind that they're open 6 AM - 2 PM PST daily, and they only take credit card for orders more than $100.

The lobster place ran out of lobster bibs, so we were relegated to crab bibs...oh well, life could be tougher.
1.5 pounds of deliciousness and messiness:

Adam, Wade and Eric were in town for work with North Face and had lucky timing, as they happen to pick the night that we're dining on lobster to hang out with us.

Right before digging in:
The aftermath:

Maybe the reason we don't do this too often is because of the tremendous mess it creates, and the fact that it's not that healthy to eat that much melted butter in one setting. Regardless, it was delicious.

Speedy & The Cowboy

October 13, 2007

I went down to Santa Clara to see the kiddies on Saturday afternoon.

It's crazy how big they're all getting. Olivia had her first school pictures and she's adorable in her little school uniform. The twins are incredibly hard to manage now that they're mobile. Simon is walking/crawling at a 75/25 rate and he is definitely not as stable on his two feet as Charlotte. He looks like he's either drunk or a cowboy ready for shootout.



Olivia loves her little sister and brother, sometimes a little too much. She loves to pick them up and walk around with them (Simon enjoys this), and she gives them plenty of kisses.

Charlotte is a big fan of chairs and sitting. She loves to crawl into seats and sit down, checking everyone out.





At special request from my mom to take more videos, here's a video montage of a bunch of clips that I took on my digicam of the kids:

Rogue Wave

October 13, 2007

On Friday night, Will, Austin, Wade and I headed to dreaded North Beach to catch a concert at one of my favorite venues (geography aside), Bimbo's 365. We were going to see a band called Rogue Wave, an indie rock band from Oakland that has become a NFB (new favorite band).

Rogue Wave flew in from LA in time to hit the stage at 10:15 pm. Apparently, they were in LA to do KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic earlier in the morning. Love that radio show.





The initial set was about 1 hour long and they played a bunch of tunes from their third album, "Asleep At Heaven's Gate", which was released in late September. My favorite songs off the new album include "Lake Michigan", "Like I Needed", and "Chicago X 12".

The first song out of their encore was another one of my favorites "Eyes", which was featured in an episode of "Heroes" in the first season. Great song. Another highlight of the encore (and the entire night), was when lead singer Zach Rogue led drummer Pat Spurgeon (who recovered this year from a kidney transplant!) and musical everyman Gram Lebron (this dude plays everything!) to do an acoustic version of "Nourishment Nation" in the middle of the floor with only a guitar, drum sticks and a tambourine. It was awesome, and they credited another local band, Two Gallants, with the idea, as it it something they often do in shows.

Unfortunately, I've had some lower back issues due to frizzer, so it was a bit annoying dealing with the whole "standing" thing. All in all, it was a fantastic show. Check out Rogue Wave if you ever get the chance.

HH at Levende

October 12, 2007

It's been a pretty hellish couple of weeks at work, I transitioned onto a new project with lots of activities and it's been kicking my butt. Thankfully, making through this week has been a major milestone, and my anxiety level can now chill out...

On Thursday night, I went for happy hour with a few co-workers at Levende Lounge. My friend, Wade, was also in town for work, so he joined us as well.

Two mojitos into HH, we all decided to order some yummy small plates...
Bluenose bass ceviche serrano with yellow tomatoes, fried plantain, lotus, tarro & tortilla chips. The dry ice was a nice touch and functioned well to keep the ceviche chilled.
The mandarin orange glazed babyback ribs with edamame, daikon sprouts and enoki mushroom salad. The ribs were of generous size, and were so tender the meat fell off the bone. I also love enoki mushrooms, so they were awesome with a little bit of the orange glaze.
The good-ole stand-by side dish: mac & cheese with applewood smoked bacon and sage. Enough said.
The roasted beet salad with pecan crusted goat cheese, mizuna, haricot vert, maple & mustard vinaigrette. I'm a big fan of beets.

The signature dish at Levende: Indian spiced mini lamb burgers with onion chutney, cumin and yogurt sauce, and pickled cukes. Although there is a new head chef, Levende has kept these yummy burgers of goodness on their menu (originally created by the previous chef Jamie Lauren, who has since moved on to the executive chef position at Absinthe Brasserie & Bar).


Levende is always a good place to check out. I've always loved the room and they also had a nice live band with three members playing while we were hanging out. However, I should note that their happy hour prices (for beer only) only applies to the bar service only, not at the tables.

Wet, Wet, Wet!

October 8, 2007



My frizzer team competed in the next installment of the UPA Fall Series last weekend (Northwest Mixed Regionals in Burlington, WA) and I have one word to sum the entire weekend up: WET.



Oh yes, it rained, it was windy, and I was miserable. However, our team did qualify for Nationals in Sarasota, FL, so at least we have that going for us....which is nice.



We had a great Saturday, where we were 3-0 in pool play and won the semi-final game against Golden Spike (revenging a Sunday morning loss at Labor Day), which qualified us for Nationals (there are 4 bids from the NW to Nationals).



On Sunday, we faced Shazam Returns! (from Seattle) in the finals and the gale force winds kept the game close, with a sad double-game point loss (12-11). From there, we had to play the seeding game for 2/3 and as the torrential rains came down, we couldn't bring it home and we ended up losing to Mischief to take the 3rd spot.



In the end, it was disappointing to lose the two games on Sunday, but we're grateful that our team came out unscathed considering the weather and we are heading to the show in a couple weeks. A photog from Seattle, Bil, took some pictures and will eventually post them here.



Wish us luck!

Reunion Tour

October 4, 2007

Last night, Will, Abe, Robert and I headed to Slim's in SOMA to check out my favorite Canadian band, The Weakerthans, in concert. Prior to the concert, we went to Yo-Yo for sushi dinner, visiting our favorite hostess, Jessica, who showered us with lavish extras like edamame, tempura, and more beer (!). What a great, dependable place.

The Weakerthans just released their highly anticipated follow-up to 2003 "Reconstruction Site" with their newest album release of "Reunion Tour" at the end of September.

I bought a rad brown warm-up jacket with a Weakerthans curling design. Curling...awesome. ASIDE: Does anyone know where a girl could go curling in the Bay Area?

Can someone please teach me how to take a picture in a dark concert venue?

Here's a blurry and questionable-sound-quality video of the Weakerthans playing one of my all-time favorite songs, "Reconstruction Site":

My new favorite song "Night Windows" from their new album:

It was so awesome to see this band live again. They played for over 1.5 hours and checked off my favorite tunes: "Left and Leaving", "A Plea From A Cat Named Virtute", "Our Tired Explorer" and "One Great City!".

I heart The Weakerthans!

These Robeez Are Made For Walking

October 1, 2007

I finally made it down to South Bay on the weekend to see the kiddies and in their new home in Santa Clara. They have a lot more space, which is good for the highly mobile twins.

Charlotte has made walking her primary mode of mobility, while Simon is averaging a 50/50 split between crawling and walking. I didn't manage to get Charlotte's zombie walk on film, but here's a couple seconds of her quick ambling pace...



However, I think that instead of practicing his walking, Simon has been practicing his modeling poses.
Simon's "Blue Steele":


Auntie Bea kisses:

Simon is much larger physically than Charlotte, and uses his brute strength to get what he wants...

Olivia spends most of her day trying to keep her Barbies out of the twins' little grubby hands.



It was so awesome to see the family again and in their new home. Congratulations!