California Beer Festival

This past weekend we went to Ventura for the California Beer Festival. It was so much fun! I was the D2 for the event and was responsible for taking all these drunk people below to/from the festival. They had BBQ, beer, bands, etc...Overall, it was a great time. I would go again next year for sure...Even if I have to be the D2 for everyone!

Ron, Kelly and Don
Emery, Ron, Jackie and Don

Walking with Dinosaurs

We went to see Walking with the Dinosaurs and it was amazing. If it is in your area, I highly recommended you go and see it. If you have kids, they will love it also.

Catch Up!

It has been a while since I have updated the blog! I have been going on training events for the last six months and life has been a little crazy. Hopefully, I will get everyone caught up on what is going on with us.

SEATTLE

I had to spend a week in Seattle in July for training. It was a rough trip...lol. After class each day, I would venture out and sight see...I LOVE SEATTLE in July!

Farmers Market

Lake Union

This was a funny story. So, my class mate Michelle and I wanted to go on a sail boat while we were in Seattle. We drove all around Lake Union looking for a place to ride a sail boat. We finally came across this little place. They would let us rent a boat - YAY! However, they wouldn't let us rent a Captain! Our question was, why would you just let two city girls take a boat out on a lake?? It was funny!

Seattle Harbor Boat Tour

ECLIPSE CONVENTION

Deshae came to visit for a month and I took her to the Eclipse (Twilight) Convention in LA. It was pretty cool...LONG DAY, but it was worth it. Got to see Rob Pattinson and all the others! Would I ever do it again...No, but it was fun to do at least once if you are a Twilight fan.

WASHINGTON DC

I had to attend a training event in Washington DC in May. Mom visited me the last part of the trip and we went out and saw the sights of DC. We went to all the major government buildings and we even got to tour the White House. The overall highlight for me was the White House, but the National Zoo was in close second place!

Ben's Famous Chili Bowl Restaurant in DC...YUM!

COOKING CLASS

Thanks to my good friend Emery, I got to take a neat little cooking class this summer in Ojai. I have been trying to get in here for 2 years and finally got in!! I took a class called Cooking with Lavender. It was all so Yummy!

WB STUDIO TOUR

Jen and I took the WB Studio VIP Tour in May and had a blasted! We got to see were Ellen tapes and several others shows...Including ABC Family's new Pretty Little Liars...That was cool! We also got to go on the set of the Friends Cafe Shop. One more thing marked off our list of things to see before we leave LA.

10 Years of Marriage = CA Road Trip!

Ron and I celebrated 10 years of marriage by taking an 8 day CA Road Trip! First we headed North to San Francisco for a couple days. We visited Alcatraz, Union Square, Fisherman Wharf, Golden Gate Park, Haight Ashbury and many, many places!



March 4: We celebrated our 10 years together at Michael Mina's flagship restaurant in Union Square. I have heard great things about this place and really wanted to try it out. We started our 3 course meal with Lobster Corn Dogs and Black Truffle Popcorn. The second course was Lobster Pot Pie and Brandt Farm Prime Beef 'Bourguignon'. For the final course, we had the Rootbeer Float and Chocolate Caramel Mousse. It was all so WONDERFUL!

March 5: We headed out to Alcatraz for the day. We also ventures to Union Square for some shopping and Fisherman Wharf for some seafood!! We also stopped off at Buena Vista, the first pub to create the Irish Coffee. Ron and I both prefer the Bailey's and Hot Chocolate over the Irish Coffee, but the atmosphere is amazing and it is a must do in San Francisco.

March 6: We went to the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard St., Golden Gate Park and Haight Ashbury.

As many of you already know, I have been working on tasting all the Hamburgers on the GQ Best Burgers in America list. Burger Joint is number 16 on this list and it is located in San Francisco. We both ordered the Hamburger and Fries. It was not the best burger and I did question why it was on the list...I have had better at In& Out! However, everything was fresh and made to order...(However, In&Out is also fresh and made to order)...So, I wouldn't go out of my way for this place.

Alcatraz

Buena Vista Pub

Burger Joint

Lobster Pot Pie

Rootbeer Float with Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies.

March 7: We left the big city and headed North into the Redwoods forest. It is about a 250 mile trip from San Francisco to Humbolt State Park - Avenue of the Giants. While visiting the Giant Redwoods, I drove our little CRV through a redwood tree!! It was cool, but Ron said I was a little to close on the passenger side...lol.

After visiting the Avenue of the Giants, we headed further North to a small town called Ferndale, CA. I made reservations for a B&B up there called Victoria Inn. I had no real clue about the area before we booked the hotel, but it turns out this small town is famous for a few reasons: (1) It is the place Jim Carey filmed his movie The Majestic and (2) They have the oldest pharmacy in CA. Other than that, you are not missing much in this small town. The place was wonderful and the only restaurant that was open was good...lol.

Victorian Inn

March 8 and 9: We left Ferndale, CA and headed South for Napa, CA. We had big plans in Napa; Wine tasting, cute little B&B, Jelly Belly Factory and Hot Air Balloon ride. Well, Hot Air Balloon ride was cancelled because of winds, but everything else was a go!.

B&B: Pink Mansion....It was WONDERFUL! Our first night, we were the only ones in the house. It was so peaceful and quite. I sat by the pool drinking sparkling wine and reading my book and just enjoying the atmosphere. Every night @ 5:30-6:30 they serve wine & cheese...It was so yummy! Every morning @ 9AM they feed you a gourmet breakfast. First morning, we had baked pears, blueberry scones and egg souffle. Second morning we had baked apples, croissants and hash brown casserole. It was all yummy!

We did two wine tastings while we were there; Mumm and Chandon. Both are sparkling wine vineyards. At Mumm they had sparkling red wines...they were good and different, so that is what we brought home!

Jelly Belly Factory Tour...Well, we were both glad it was free...lol. Not something we would recommend to adults, but if you have kids in the area...maybe. The big thing at Jelly Belly is that you can buy Belly Flops...Jelly Belly's that don't make the final product. Way cheaper than the perfect Jelly Belly's, but just a good.

One of the Best Burgers in American lives in Napa. Number 11 on the GQ list, Grilled Bistro Burger @ Bistro Don Giovanni. This burger was AMAZING!! The burger was by far one of the best burgers I have ever had in my life. They had pickled veggies and placed them on top of the burger. Normally the burger is served with Onion Rings, so Ron and I decided he would get Onion Rings and I would get fried so we could try them both! I would recommend this to EVERYONE! Just a friendly note they do not have this burger listed on the menu and do not serve it on Friday or Saturday nights.

Red Sparkling Win @ Mumm Winery

Grilled Bistro Burger

Pink Mansion

March 10: We left Napa and continued South to Monterey and Big Sur...We are closing in on the end of the trip! On our way to Monterey, we decided at the last minute to stop at the San Francisco Creamery...which is really in Silicone Valley - outside of the city San Francisco. Adam Richmond from Man vs. Food went here and ate the entire kitchen sink by himself. Ron and I knew we couldn't eat that together and went ahead and got smaller sundae's. We still didn't eat them...lol. It was great and I would recommend to anyone in the area. The ice cream is home made and so thick and wonderful. There food looked pretty good too.

Once we got into Monterey we went to Fish Hopper for lunch. It is located on Monterey Bay famous Cannery Row, right next to the Aquarium. Ron had crap and shrimp for lunch and I had their award winning clam chowder. During lunch, a bird decided to land on our table and try to steal some butter. He got the butter, but hit the glass on the way out, go stuck and dropped the butter! The waiter had to help the big bird out! The bird was making all kinds of noise and his friends came from all around...it was like that movie, The Birds! It was crazy! The rest of lunch...she just sat on the ledge looking at the butter on the ground. I wanted to kick it to him, but Ron said no!

After our fun lunch, we went into Monterey Bay Aquarium to look at the fish! It was smaller than I thought, but just as fun!

We drove South to Treebones Resort to spend the night in a Yurt. This was by far our favorite place to stay! It is an Eco-Friendly resort...they make their own power, veggies, fruits, etc...There are 16 Yurts you can stay in...We stayed in Yurk 5. In the future, I might want to stay in Yurk 16. It is the most private Yurt of them all. The most amazing thing about this resort was the stars....you could see them for miles! We highly recommend this resort to anyone!! Also, the restaurant on property is amazing.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Yurt #5

March 11: Last day of the trip!! We headed South to Hearst Castle for Tour #1. You will not believe how big this place is until you are actually there. Took them 15 years to build and it is still not complete. The entire property is still decorated as it was when it was built between 1919-1940's something. I can't wait to go back and do other tours of the property!

Okay, so in CA they have these commerical's called, California Happy Cows....You can catch them on YouTube if you like outside CA. Anyway, the whole trip I was telling Ron, "Look CA Happy Cows!" At Hearst Castle, they not only had CA Happy Cows, but CA Happy Zebra's!! These Zebra's are descents of the original Zebra's purchased by Mr. Hearst in the 1940's.

Main House of Hearst Castle

CA Happy Cows and Happy Zebra's.

LA Cupcake Challenge 2010

This past weekend, Nancy and I attended LA's Cupcake Challenge 2010.

40 Cupcakes - 20 Bakers - Only 1 Winner!!

Our Goal: To sample all 40 Cupcakes!

Since this is not our first go around at this event...We had an idea of how to make sure we did a great job at scoring all the cupcakes. The key is to take small bites of the mini cupcakes!

There was all kinds of cupcakes this year; Key Lime, Lavender Vanilla, Rose Pedal, Car Boom, Pig on Top (Bacon cupcake), Pretty Women, etc...

We went around and collected about 10-12 cupcakes at a time. Our plan was to take home one full set of cupcakes and only sample one set at the venue. So, we would both collect the same cupcakes...Pack one in a bag and test the other. We cut the mini in half and then just took a bite of that piece. After 38 cupcakes - we were good!

Note: The reason we didn't try the other 2 was because they were BIG size cupcakes and we just didn't have it in us to try the BIG cupcakes.

Nancy and I with Naught and Nice Cupcakes...Nancy said they were given out correct! I had Naught and she had Nice. I let her believe that...lol.

Us with the Bunny!

Our Pick for Best Traditional: Big Man Bakes - Red Velvet.

Big Man Bakes was by far the BEST of the traditional cakes...and we tasted a lot! The cakes was moist and the frosting complimented the cake, it never over powered the cake.

Big Man himself!!

Our Pick for Best Original: Fairy Cakes - Pumpkin White Chocolate

Fairy Cakes really did a GREAT job with this one. I love pumpkin - not a big fan of white chocolate, but it wasn't anything that took away from the pumpkin...It was great together.

Our pick for Best Overall: Polkatots - Lucky Charm

Once again Polkatots is my favorite! I still remember last years Dulce de Latch and was excited to see them on the list again this year. When I first saw "Lucky Charm" I thought...Hmmm...What did they do with cereal? It wasn't until I tasted this cupcake that I realized it was pistachio! It was amazing! There was a few that were close to touching it, but in the end...Nothing compared to Lucky Charm!

Little Penguin was good too!!



Here is our left overs - PLUS we took home 4 dozen to share!

The new thing this year must be Bacon Cupcakes! Three companies put in Bacon cupcakes...here they are below. I was not impressed with the Bacon cupcakes, but Ron said the one with the flag was alright. It was actually a pancake flavor cupcake, maple frosting and bacon...Kinda like breakfast!

I can't wait until next year to see what will they come up with next!!

NBA All Star Game - 2010

For Christmas, I gave Ron a Trip to Dallas, TX to go and see the NBA All-Star Game. We were suppose to leave out on Feb 11 for a fun filled NBA weekend. On Feb 11 - I got a call from American Airlines that my flight was cancelled because DFW was getting to much snow. They couldn't get us on a flight to DFW until SATURDAY morning! Thank goodness all the events I paid for were on Saturday - Sunday! So, we took the first flight we could take and spend the weekend among THOUSANDS of NBA fans.

Saturday - We went to the NBA Jam Session @ the Dallas Convention Center. It was CRAZY! There was tons of people. We walked around for about 5 hours and got some really good autographs and photos.

I was the more "aggressive" autograph getter...lol. I would follow the players around and jump in front of them to get the autographs. All those trips to Disneyland were I would stock Mikey Mouse worked in my favor this weekend...lol.

Nate Robinson - Slam Dunk Winner!! Got his autograph!

Sunday - We went to the NBA All Star Game @ the Dallas Cowboy Stadium. Now...Anyone who knows me, knows I am not a big fan of Basketball, but I do love me some football...Especially Dallas Cowboys and especially Miles Austin. I have been a fan of Miles Austin since I first met him in 2008 here at Point Mugu when the Cowboys stopped for autographs. I have been watching his career even before game 5 of this season! I have been waiting for the day his Jersey hit the sleeves...Which I got this past Christmas....Thanks Mom.

So, you know I was more excited to be in the stadium that Miles plays in every week....So, to my surprise he was there! Not only was he in the stadium when I was, but he was RIGHT in front of me. I hit Ron on the arm and froze! It was Miles...Right in front of me!! I have hugged this man in the past, but that was a couple of years ago. Miles went into a room and we walked away.

As we took our GREAT seats for the game, I looked to my top left and it was the Cowboys suite! J. Jones, Emmet Smith, Dion Sanders and Miles Austin all in the same room! I went and took photos of them.

Miles Austin - #19 on the Dallas Cowboys.

Doesn't the guy next to him kinda look like Mr. Belding from Save By the Bell?

Once my excitement was over from Miles Austin, it was time for me to enjoy Ron's favorite sport...Basketball. The pre-show was of Usher and it was pretty good. I loved the way the plays entered into the stadium! The game went on and it was fun to watch. Ron said it was by far the best Christmas present I have ever given him!

Game from our seats.

East Team going to court.
Ron's Favorite player - D. Wade!!

Ron and I going into Stadium

Snow Days

In January ( I know I have been slacking on the updates!!) Ron and I took the girls to Frazier Park for a Snow Day!! We had about 10-12 inches of rain in our area and the mountain towns had more in SNOW! In some parts we were walking in knee deep snow...It was so much fun!

Kehau LOVES the snow and the look on her face once we got to the small town (about 1 hour away) was like, "Oh...I like that white stuff!" She was built for this type of weather!

Izzy was okay in the snow and LOVED to play in it, but she little legs would shack and she would get into the street or sidewalk that was clear of snow when she had the chance.

Mountain Side Road

Kehau running in fresh snow!

The girls trying to decided which way they wanted to go.

My little family!!

LA Clippers vs. Miami Heat

Ron finally got to go to a NBA Miami Heat game! We went to see Miami Heat play the LA Clippers and the Clippers won...Bummer, I know! Anyway, it was a great time..except they didn't allow Ron to take his camera into the Staples Center...So, we only have a few pictures from our great seat neighbors and from our cell phone camera.

I won a silent auction - Michael Beasley autographed Jersey.

D. Wade doing his normal before game warm up.