Marketing!

A couple of weeks ago our friend Michelle graced us with her presence here in the city. We decided to meet her at the Ferry Building for the world famous breakfast sammies and some fresh fruit. Little did we know we were going to be caught up in a marketing blitz.

Our day started off innocently enough when we ran into Michelle and Shasta several stops early which is always a delight; running into someone on the Muni metro. Michelle caused quite a commotion at this chance meeting! She calmed down enough for me to document our ride.
So if you know Betsy, she is always talking up the breakfast sammies at the Ferry Building. They are super yummy unless you're a lactose intolerant vegetarian... The sammies never disappoint.
Afterwords, we went out to Justin Hermon Plaza and were excited to see that British Colombia had invaded. They wanted you to come to their fair country and apparently they travel by zip line or something. They did have this cool chalk photo.
Unfortunately the effect doesn't work when tourists walk through the cliff. But clever marketing campaign British Columbia!
And what trip downtown isn't complete without a stop at the Gap Maternity? We were again pleasantly surprised to find a free photo booth at the entrance. What a great marketing ploy.
As you can see the first photo took me by surprise but I quickly got the hang of it.
Well maybe not right away but some of them turned out OK.
We took three turns in the booth and got our photos in seconds. It was a fun time for sure.
Michelle and Shasta took off and we headed home on the train to relax and admire our photos. Luckily there was no major marketing campaign on our way home. SF is great because you never know what you're going to find when you head out and about. I love that about our city. Most of the time what you find kind of smells bad but sometimes its fun.

Also, please come back and visit Michelle. Its always fun to have you here.

Tenderfoot

A couple weekends ago I woke Betsy up early on Saturday and we took off to Marin. We did hike #2 on the list of the top 7 hikes in Marin County. I don't know why they don't round up to 10 top hikes in Marin County but that's how Marin County rolls I guess. It was a beautiful morning; the rain had stopped and the sun came out. As you can see, I was super excited to be in nature.
On the other hand, Betsy still wanted to be in bed but was willing to show off her belly to nature.
Here she is more excited. Maybe it was the view?
The trail was a little slick and I noticed that Betsy was walking with her hands pointed out for balance.
The hike was very pretty. Lots of pretty wildflowers and awesome views.

When we came to a bridge crossing, Betsy was a bit concerned that she would slip on the bridge, fall in the creek, be swept downstream, then eaten by a bear. I just told her to stick out her hands for balance like she was doing before.
She continued this technique in the tough sections for the remainder of the hike. I tried to convince her that she was going to be fine but she gave some excuse like her shoes didn't have tread or something.
Maybe I should get her a hiking balance bar like the one the Man On Wire guy uses.
Betsy was a good sport and made it to the top without incident.
The hike was in a botanical hot spot due to all the serpentine everywhere. Here is some Lasthenia californicia or some other species.
Also there was Layia sp. growing next to it. We often see these plants in vernal pools. These plant species are easy to key but I didn't want to collect anything since because of the sensitive area. There were other plant nerds around so I didn't want to get reprimanded from the plant police.
When we reached the top of Ring Mountain we were surprised to find tons of wildflowers. It was awesome. Apparently they leveled the top of the mountain to put anti-aircraft guns here during the war. The mountain has rebounded.
I was so happy. But as you can see the weather was turning bad so we took off.
First we had to take another belly shot. Our kid is totally going to love nature.
Afterwords we drove to Larkspur for brunch. We found a cute cafe off the main drag and it was pretty tasty. I got the eggs Benedict. Yelpers were right, it was delicious.
Betsy got the two egg special. She really loves bacon.
Downtown Larkspur is rustic. It would be fun to live here some day.
I am so glad that Betsy didn't fall down in the mud. Maybe her technique will catch on. All I know is I want to go hiking in Marin County again soon. Come on weekend!

Work life

Like I mentioned, Steve's been out doing field work a lot lately. While my office is pleasant, I think my view...

...pales in comparison to Steve's view today (he sends me picture texts from the field).

Also, his vehicle of choice today...

...puts mine to shame.

Leftovers anyone?

Steve has been traveling a lot for his new(ish) job which leaves me home alone a lot during the week. Last night I decided to make fried rice. The problem with me and making fried rice is by the time I'm done, no matter what, I have a GIANT pan full of it. So last night I set out to make a batch for one with a bit of leftovers for lunch today. Once I added the onions, garlic, broccoli, zucchini, edamame, shrimp, brown rice and eggs I had once again made enough fried rice to feed a family of ten. I know it's hard to tell in this picture but that wooden utensil is giant...and this is my biggest fry pan full of fried rice AFTER I've eaten my dinner serving. I'm going to be so over fried rice by Friday it's not even funny.

Betsy's Fried Rice
In a couple tablespoons of canola oil saute...
1 small to medium onion
4-5 cloves chopped garlic
1-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
Add veggies of choice chopped small so they cook and continue to cook until not quite fully cooked.
Add apx 2 cups cooked/cooled short grain brown rice (day old seems to work even better straight from the fridge) and mix all together.
Make a well in the middle of everything and pour in 2-3 beaten eggs and let them set a bit then start scraping them up so you get a scrambled egg thing happening in the middle of your pan (the other ingredients will start to tumble into your eggs which is fine...eventually start mixing it all together.
This is where I typically add either frozen Trader Joe's shrimp to heat through, leftover chopped chicken breast, chopped baked tofu. Whatever I feel like. This recipe is the ultimate "clean out your fridge" recipe.
Then depending on taste and the amount you've made, I'll pour a couple tablespoons of soy sauce around the pan and mix some more. I'm always careful here b/c if you add too much, you can't take it back.
The end! Let me know if you end up with an enormous pan as well! :)