Wednesday, June 30, 2010

2 Months to Go

Monday officially marked two months until the wedding! I can't believe it is almost here. For awhile it felt like time was moving SO slow and now I think we are in warp speed to the wedding. While there is still a lot to be done I feel like it is relatively under control. Not too stressed. Honestly, I think all the big items are taken care of and the rest is just details. Trying not to sweat the small stuff.

What I should be doing is sweating though! For some reason the time and motivation have just not presented themselves to get in "wedding shape". I am eating well and try to get out for runs regularly but I am really hoping that some bridal instinct kicks in that makes me work my tail off for the next two months. After the holiday weekend it is back to Bar Method and I will start adding more runs in.


Let's star this week and work our way backwards. This week was invitation week. Scott and I plopped down on the floor Monday and Tuesday night and stuffed, stamped, and sealed envelopes!
Please don't judge this mismatching RSVP cards and invitations. I decided they were close enough :-) 120 invitations ready to send!

This past weekend I boarded a plane bound for my old Colorado stomping grounds. Of course, there was a detour through Boulder for a stop at Mad Greens. I miss that place. Boulder and Mad Greens. I like San Francisco, but I love Boulder. Maybe it is the seasons, maybe the scenery...whatever it is, it was good to stop in and say, "hello"! Although it was pretty good to get home and say "hello" to my little family back in San Francisco too! Anyway, it was time to leave Boulder again and head to Breckenridge for some bachelorette fun!
The bachelorette, Jax, and me. There was hiking involved. Me loving the trees and trails! Whew, after out BIG hike (read: two miles) it was time to replenish. I also think this sign could sum up the weekend quite nicely. I think I am still on a sugar high. And then there was a night out on the town! Not a bad backdrop! Lucky for us we found a bar with an 80s cover band playing. The Breckenridge locals went all out for the occasion!

There were plenty of inappropriate games, gifts, and pictures that I will refrain posting on the blog. The weekend prior was pretty low key in the Koon/Retchless world. We did a little cleaning, shopping, and the big one-cleaned out the garage! We each tackled a different section and now you can officially walk through without fear of impaling yourself on some random item. I wish I would have taken before and after pictures because the results are truly amazing. We filled the entire back of my car up with stuff for Goodwill and managed to get that dropped off as well.

This weekend we are off to Calistoga for some fun in the sun with the Strand and Hyland fams. I promise my next post will be better. I am not feeling terribly inspired at the moment but wanted to get caught up.

I will leave you with a preview of my next post:


Monday, June 14, 2010

It didn't stop there

After the weekend with the guys it was time for my friend to come to town. Katie was in from New York for the weekend and of course we needed to try and eat and drink our way through the city! I can't say I was the best host, I was a little bit beat from the weeks prior but we managed to get lots of fun in.

Thursday we met for happy hour at District and then headed to Beretta for dinner. All of a sudden midnight rolled around...oops! Friday, the tour de SF continued with a trip to Terzo for more food and drink. Not really sure why the camera didn't make an appearance...as I mentioned previously, I should be fired as a blogger. It was great fun nonetheless and I think I am still full!

Saturday morning I had my hair trial for the wedding. I do have pictures of this, but you will have to wait until the wedding! Then, Scott and I decided to pack a cooler and our pink and blue chairs and tailgate by ourselves at the Giants game! It was so H-O-T I took a picture of the temperature gauge on my car to prove it. But, this is the baseball weather I am familiar with so I gladly took in the opportunity not to pack my mittens for the game!
Yep, 93!
Scott tailgating in his blue chair
And me in mine. Please excuse the sunglasses and crazy hair!

Sunday, ah, a day of rest. YEAH RIGHT, what blog do you think you are reading?! Sunday we picked up Katie and Nicole and headed up to Napa. This weekends stops included Gloria, Nickel & Nickel, Oakville Grocery, and Robert Sinskey.
Nicole (Katie's co-worker), me and Kate (if you don't know where YOU should be fired from this blog)
I like this one :-)
Visiting the horses at Nickel
Me and Kate at Sinskey

And I will leave you with a little of Scott's latest art...

You know you want some of this cookie!

Phew, now I rest...

I should be fired

I am a terrible blogger. Frankly, I am just plain exhausted and all of the craziness the past couple of weeks has landed me on the couch today. I think I need about 48 hours of sleep to feel normal again. Luckily we have a week "off". We, meaning me and Scott, and "off" meaning no visitors, dinners, day trips, Giants games, etc... Don't get me wrong, I love all of the previously mentioned things but sometimes you just need a weekend to reboot!

Memorial Day we headed off to the Giants game with Kristina and Nick. We got some incredible seats thanks to them!
The dugout from out seats.
The Panda!
Timmy
My favorite Giant, LOU SEAL!

The shenanigans continued the weekend of the 5th. Scott had what I termed a "faux bachelor party". Steve, Todd and Chris drove up from SoCal to take Scott out for the night. They let me join them for happy hour on Friday and then I sent them off to the Marina. Based on the remnants in the house on Saturday morning (mainly the half eaten pizza and all of the toppings in the bottom of the oven), I'd say they had a good time.

The pictures taken were less than impressive (no one is ever looking at the camera) but here are the visitors walking down Chestnut.

Saturday we headed up the street for some breakfast at Chloe's. And so commenced the eating and drinking extravaganza of the past week (for me anyway). The city has been having some GORGEOUS weather the past two weekends so we ended up sitting outside and having some mimosas while soaking up the sun. We bid Chris and Todd farewell as they were headed home and then lunch time rolled around. PAPALOTE!! So yummy. Following a nap, we went out for drinks and dinner at Heart and Beretta.

Sunday, it was all about Steve! Only kidding, but I did promise him a lasagna for dinner which I delivered. (The photo below is not my lasagna but you get the idea). I think I'll include a recipe for you today...

I make my lasgana a little different each time. There isn't really any measuring, I just cook as much as I think I need to fill whatever pan I am going to cook it in.

Ingredients:
Classico Pasta Sauce (this time I used a combo of Spicy Tomato Basil and regular Tomato Basil)
Jennie O Hot Lean Italian Turkey Sausage
Lasagna noodles (9)
Ricotta Cheese-the leanest I could find
Low Fat Mozzarella Cheese
Onion
Garlic


Begin by boiling water and cooking noodles. Meanwhile, remove the sausage from its casing and brown the meat with the onions and garlic. Drain grease/water. Add pasta sauce and simmer. I like to add a little garlic salt and pepper from time to time. Once the noodles and meat are finished you can begin putting it together.

Preheat oven to 350. Lay three lasagna noodles on the bottom of greased baking pan. Add a layer of the meat sauce, then ricotta, followed by mozzarella. Repeat until you have a total of three layers. Cook 30-45 minutes...until sides begin to bubble and top is slightly browned.

**when I make this for just Scott and I using an 8" square pan, one package of sausage, a little more than one jar of sauce, one container of ricotta, and one bag of mozzarella usually is enough.