ski trip

This weekend Shawn and I decided to take a quick trip to Heavenly to do some shredding. Apparently he had tickets to use before they closed for the season and he invited me to join. I was excited. I was going to ski twice this year!!!!

After book club on Friday night, we drove up to Tahoe. We arrived pretty late and checked into Motel 6. The room was pretty ghetto but it had two beds and a heater so I didn't care. I wonder if you can buy one of these comforters, they were pretty sweet!
The next morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day. A perfect day for shredding. We drove up to the resort and Shawn had to rent some skis which took some time. I decided to take a quick run up the bunny slope while I was waiting to get some practice turns. As you can see it was a beautiful day on the slopes. Still cold, but nice.
On of the best things about skiing with Shawn, is his one piece. This stylish number comes complete with a detachable hood, fur lined collar, quad pockets, a belt and those snazzy racing stripes. It was awesome and I was a bit jealous.

One thing the suit didn't do was slow him down. I think those racing stripes helped him navigate the snow.
Since my only camera was an iphone, the pictures didn't really capture our awesomeness. This was supposed to be Shawn getting sick air but the slow shutter speed of the camera missed the action. But look at that landing!
Here I am on the ridge overlooking the lake. Heavenly is a great mountain to ski since it is so big so close to the lake. Heavenly can also be a pain with all the crowds and long lines, but the crowds were sparse.
I love going to Heavenly because I used to work there for 2.25 seasons. My commute to work used to include boarding to the lodge. I used to ski ~80 days a year but now I am lucky to get in 2. It's always fun to head back to my old stomping grounds. I never got tired of this view!

We actually stayed till 4 and skied down the mountain. The snow was great up top but got a bit wet on our way down. In some spots it was a bit like skiing on slush. On our drive home we stopped outside of Davis on Mace Boulevard. We took a chance on our food options and were heading to Taco Bell when we found this little gem hidden in a strip mall.
Authentic food. Dang their burritos were good!

We made it home at a pretty decent hour. Thanks again Shawn for the ticket and the good times.

Guilty.

My lotion mysteriously disappeared off our dresser last weekend and I didn't understand how it got lost. It had been sitting there since we moved in. I use it every morning. I put it back in the same spot. We searched everywhere...in our drawers, under the dresser, under the bed, in all the bathroom drawers and cabinets but nothing. So, of course, I accused Steve of doing something with it. And, of course, he vehemently denied my accusations. Well, I just got this in my email:


Turns out Steve "accidentally" put it in his toolbox. Riiiiiiight.

soup du jour

Heather passed along the easiest, most delicious, economical soup recipe to me a while back and I made it again tonight for Steve and he LOVED it.

Recipe
One can three bean salad
One box (4 cups) chicken broth
14 oz pasta sauce
1 cup pasta noodles

Bring the first three ingredients to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to box directions. Turn off heat and let sit on the stove for ten minutes. It's almost like a quick minestrone. We served it with garlic bread and a sprinkle of parmesan on top. Delicious and healthy!

Sorry for the picture quality. We dove right in before taking any beauty shots so here is one from my iPhone.

Thanks again for the great recipe Heather!

Bus Drivers

So I've been commuting to work now for about a month from our new apartment which involves me riding the bus. Usually in the evenings I'll take the N Judah home but in the morning, I hope on the 71L right outside my front door. The drivers have all been super nice and friendly and I can tell they are concious of their riders and make sure to not stop suddenly (especially when an elderly rider might be standing up). Yesterday morning I missed my usual 7:15am bus so took the next one at about 7:40am. The bus driver was out of control. Speeding, sudden stops, slamming on breaks...I almost felt like he hated his job and was taking it out on us. It was bad enough that all the riders were shooting eachother glances with worried faces and I even had a moment where I considered getting off the bus b/c I was pretty sure we'd crash sooner or later.

I was kinda late so I stayed on the bus and even offered my seat to a terrified lady who was standing next to me. I was so mad by the time I got to work! I wanted to give the driver a piece of my mind but then got worried that I might see him again someday so I got off the bus and didn't say a word. Just took a deep breath of that downtown SF air and felt happy to have made it all the way to 1st & Market in one piece. Do you have any muni/public transit horror stories? I wonder if you can log complaints about drivers somewhere.

Fast Socks

Liz & Jeremy gave us some cool Nike running socks that they get for free for being real serious runners. Steve and I have dubbed them our "fast socks." Also, Steve has them on the wrong feet (notice the giant "L" on his right foot). In Steve's defense, we've never owned socks that were made for a particular foot so this is all new to us. We'll get the hang of it.

My sister Suzy likes commercials with animals in them.

Hey Floozy! We've seen this twice now in the movie theater here in SF and both times we laugh hysterically. Not because we think it's the funniest commercial ever but because we know you would. Love you!

our new route

There is nothing that Betsy and I love to do early Saturday morning more than walking up hills. We used to go up to Coit tower at our old place and Saturday we decided to forge a new route.

Betsy wasn't that excited about walking...


Especially when I pointed out that we were going to climb the tallest hill in our neighborhood. The dreaded Turtle Hill via the 15th street steps. I almost lost Betsy and had to bribe her with scones at Arizmendi's afterwords.
Near our friends the McMillan's apartment, lie the 15th Avenue steps. These steps are a butt burner for sure.

I cramped up about halfway up and had to pull over to stretch.


On the other hand, Betsy had no trouble and beat me up to the top. Good work!



After the stairs you continue to climb to the top. I love this neighborhood and there are many beautiful houses on our route. Near the top of the summit is another flight of stairs. The crux of the walk.

The view from turtle hill is pretty amazing. You can see downtown and all of western San Francisco.


I took a photo of where we started from. The street to the left of the center of the photograph is 15th, the street we walked up. Also the Golden Gate Bridge is visible as well.
We also had to capture our sweaty selves on the top of the hill. Not our best looks. I think I need some makeup to cut back on my glow!
Tons of great views.
I love this photo.


Afterwords, we descended into the inner sunset for some hard earned breakfast. I love our new route and neighborhood.