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Hellll-ooo, Albuquerque! |
5/4/13 - Albuquerque,
NM
Checking on the house
and visiting with great friends |
This post finds us just returned home from our unofficial annual
weekend pilgrimage to the high desert. Our
third tenant in as many years- a young couple in the film
industry with a shar pei dog - is moving in later this week and
we thought we'd better go see how the house was faring after a
couple of move-ins and -outs. And as an added bonus, it
also gave us a wonderful excuse to see a few friends from our
Albuquerque days.
We hadn't seen the interior of our former
home since we moved out almost exactly two years ago and we
weren't quite sure what to expect when we got there. Upon
arrival, we were pleased to see that it was quite clean.
The dog smell that several prospective tenants complained of had
been completely eradicated with carpet cleaning and the house
was in surprisingly good condition overall (not perfect, but
good enough). We were very pleased with our most recent
tenant's treatment of the place and are sad to see him go.
Furthermore, we were delighted to hear from our friendly
next-door neighbor, Rick, that our most recent tenant, Tim, had
even had a couple lively-sounding parties out on the patio just
as we had hoped he would, as this patio was meant to host
parties. Since there were no real surprises at the house,
we easily finished the small projects we intended to work on
during the day on Saturday and on a quick follow-up visit on
Sunday, as well as compiling (more
text & photos) |
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Merry Christmas from Seoul! |
12/31/12 - Seoul,
South Korea
Trudging through the
cold and snow on an adventurous first trip to Asia |
On the day before New Year’s Eve we
returned home from a very cold but equally rewarding week spent
in South Korea. Just about the first thing that everyone asks
us about this trip is “how/why did you decide to go to Korea?!”
It was a bit of an odd choice, I suppose, and so I guess I’ll
start there. When we began researching this trip, we knew we
wanted to go to Asia, as it was one of the remaining continents
we had yet to visit (we hope to do South America next time). We
really were thinking of going someplace a bit warmer, such as
Thailand, Vietnam or Cambodia, and which have all been popular
destinations for Westerners in recent years, but flight times
are much longer and more expensive and we only had a week to
travel due to Scott's work schedule. While researching flights
to Southeast Asia, Scott started noticing that many of them
stopped over in Seoul, South Korea, which only takes as long to
travel to as many parts of Europe. (We could have just as
easily gone to Japan but decided to wait until we had more time,
both to plan as well as to visit.) And so Korea it was (being
the practical-minded folks that that we are. And besides, we do
seem to gravitate to the road less traveled if given half a
chance…)!
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Happy Holidays! |
12/15/12 - Oakland,
CA
Wishing everyone a
happy holiday season! |
Holiday
Greetings
from Oakland!
Click here to see our 2012 holiday
photo |
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Happy Thanksgiving from Lake
Tahoe! |
11/24/12 - Northstar-at-Tahoe,
CA
A perfect holiday
celebration in the mountains with old friends and new |
In keeping with tradition, we traveled to
Lake Tahoe to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with the
usual suspects - Jen, Tod, Christine, Mark and their four kids
between them - and some new friends this year, too.
Earlier
in the week, we had hosted Caroline's friend Barb and her
boyfriend Chris at our apartment. On Wednesday afternoon,
in preparation for our holiday weekend departure, we dropped our
friends off at their hotel in the City and said a fond farewell.
Back at the apartment, we loaded up the car (a rather slow and
laborious process when you live on the 5th floor) and hit the
road, where we proceeded to sit in holiday traffic for about 5
or 6 hours on our drive to the mountains. Long after dark,
we finally arrived at the house to the sound of loud cheering.
We thought our friends were excited to see us but it turned out
that the drunken cheers were for the person who won the bet on
when we would finally arrive. Some friends!
After our long drive,
the weekend quickly improved, with Mark mixing his usual
creative, yet bizarre drinks (cinnamon whiskey and Mountain
Dew??!!) and lots of laughter
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Welcome to Our New Apartment in the Heart
of Downtown Oakland! |
10/12/12 - Oakland,
CA
Finally posting
photos of our new apartment in Oakland's historic Old Oakland
district |
Since moving in in early July, we've been enjoying our new
downtown apartment and neighborhood immensely. While our
old place in the Rockridge district was quaint and full of
historical architectural details (not to mention basement
storage!), it simply lacked the modern layout, design, energy
efficiency and appliances that we craved. We do miss
having a private outdoor space but we sure love not having to
mow the lawn and our new apartment, a corner unit situated on
the fifth (top) floor of a 4-year-old building has almost
everything else we wanted (including slightly lower rent).
Our new neighborhood of Old Oakland is quite diverse and
includes a vibrant, youthful population, attracting a variety of
interesting bars and restaurants. In addition, bustling
Chinatown is mere blocks from our front door and the
upscale-casual restaurants, kayak rentals and waterfront of Jack
London Square are a short walk away as is the 3-mile walking
path that rings man-made Lake Merritt, located just one mile
from our building.
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Idyllic, Lazy Days at the Beach and a High
School Reunion |
8/07/12 - Grand
Haven, MI
Heading back to the
west 'coast' of Michigan to spend some quality time with family,
friends and old high school classmates |
We've just returned from ten days of
touring up and down the west side of our home state of Michigan,
enjoying near-perfect summer weather and a multitude of family
visits. You could say the unofficial theme of this trip
was reunions. It all started because it was time once
again for Caroline's GHHS Class of '87 high school reunion.
She had so much fun five years ago at her 20th, that the minute
she left, she vowed to return for the next one. And now it
was nearly upon us. Neither of us had had the privilege of
being in Michigan during one of their wonderful summers in quite
some time and Scott had yet to meet our niece Kate who was
turning one-year-old on the day of the reunion itself.
Furthermore, Scott's parents and closest cousins would all be
together in one place on their annual vacation up at Torch Lake
the week leading up to the reunion. Add to that that
Caroline's sister and her family had rented a beach-front
cottage on Lake Michigan for that week as well, and the timing
couldn't have been more perfect. We decided it would be a
good time to make a week-plus trip of it, visiting with extended
family on both sides as well
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A Return Visit to the Duke City |
2/06/12 -
Albuquerque, NM
Eight months after
moving to Oakland, we head to Albuquerque to reunite with some
good friends and great scenery |
It's been a beautiful winter here in
California this year - mostly dry, temps in the 60s and sunny,
blue skies (although as I write this, I am listening to
raindrops patter against the window). But despite the
stellar weather, as January
turned into February, we decided we could use a change of scene
and that it was time to take a much-needed break from Caroline's
dismay at the tight job market and Scott's hectic and
all-consuming work schedule. Besides, even though we
are still pretty happy with our decision to move away, we had made some close friends during our
time in Albuquerque and we were determined to stay in touch as
we began our new life in California. So, on a bit of a
whim we caught a Southwest flight to Albuquerque last Thursday!
After a week of feverish logistical planning to try to make sure
we could see as many old friends as possible in the space of a
long weekend, Caroline was happy to put away her social-planner
hat and relax with friends upon our arrival in Albuquerque.
After touching down at the Sunport on
Thursday afternoon, and following a brief visit with Scott's old
co-workers at UNM Hospital, we picked up Margaret, our hostess
for the evening, from work and decided that tonight called for a
New Mexican culinary treat. After settling in at the
house, we eventually descended upon the ultra-casual and
ultra-New Mexican atmosphere of Padilla's with Margaret, Petra,
Joe and even Jeremy - who just happened to be in Albuquerque
from Philadelphia on business, as luck would have it! - and
enjoyed a lively, convivial meal, along with some of the best sopapillas
in town! The weekend was off to an excellent start and
after some catching up with Christopher over celebratory
champagne and cognac in front of a roaring fire back at the
house, we fell gratefully
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Happy Holidays! |
12/04/11 - Oakland,
CA
Wishing everyone a
happy holiday season! |
Holiday
Greetings
from Oakland!
Click here to see our 2011 holiday
photo |
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Happy Thanksgiving from Lake
Tahoe! |
11/26/11 - Northstar-at-Tahoe,
CA
Celebrating all we
have to be thankful for with good friends in a snowy, winter wonderland
(well, sort of) |
This Thanksgiving, we had the pleasure of
returning to Lake Tahoe to spend yet another holiday weekend at
friends Jen and Tod's home in the mountains, along with
Christine and Mark and their kids as well. This was to be
our fourth Thanksgiving celebration with this particular group
of friends (more than we've jointly celebrated this
particular holiday with either of our families!) and we arrived
on Wednesday morning full of eager anticipation for the
celebratory meal and fun-filled weekend that lay ahead.
Once again, Christine and
Scott had planned to work from 'home' for a bit and Scott
settled right in as Caroline unpacked in the kitchen the myriad bags and boxes of food and
supplies we'd brought with us. When we arrived, Jen and Tod were
waiting in the driveway for the shuttle to take their girls
skiing and Caroline was barely out of her coat before
10-year-old Evan enthusiastically invited her to play a game of Monopoly,
the first invitation of many over the course of the
weekend. But it was nice to see the kids feeling more
familiar with us even if Caroline didn't really want to play
Monopoly at 10-o-clock in the morning!
After a low-key Wednesday of work, a pizza
lunch in the village where we watched the ice skaters for a bit
and dinner of experimental
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Houseguest #2, John from MI, Comes to
California |
10/10/11 - Oakland,
CA
We host our friend
John on a beautiful Indian Summer weekend |
Hot on the heels of Caroline's return from
a family visit to Michigan, Scott's childhood friend John
arrived from Detroit. Having thoroughly enjoyed the high
desert landscapes of New Mexico on his last visit to us, he was
hoping for a second trip to Albuquerque. Unfortunately for
John, he missed his window of opportunity by mere months. But luckily for
us, he was happy to come to the Bay Area instead and was
rewarded handsomely with three days of the best weather
imaginable (following an arrival day of intermittent showers
spent wandering the streets of San Francisco, solo, while Scott
finished up his work week and Caroline went to the dentist).
Over beers and a baseball game at a bar on Thursday evening, it was
decided that a little wine-tasting was in order. Friday
dawned clear, sunny and warm, showing no trace of Thursday's showers and gloom, and we drove off towards Napa Valley in
the lingering new-car smell of our Honda Fit. Once in the
famous wine valley, we filled our day with tasting stops at
three wineries, the highlight being our visit to Sterling
Vineyards, where we went on a self-guided "tasting tour" after
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Allow Me to Introduce...the Fabulous Kate! |
10/04/11 - Grand
Haven, MI
Caroline travels to
Michigan to meet the newest member of the family, her niece Kate |
On
August 3rd, Caroline and Scott's first niece, a healthy baby
girl named Katarina Claire, known as Kate, was born to
Caroline's sister Jen and brother-in-law Ivan. As
Caroline's side of the family was a tribe of females before our
nephew Christopher came along five years ago, this was a pretty
exciting occasion for them - not just a baby, but a girl
baby had become the newest member of this close-knit family of
ladies! Caroline was still "in-between jobs" (a neck
injury and some necessary dental work getting in the way most
recently) since the move over Memorial Day Weekend and Scott was
set to be busier than ever at work during the end of September
and into October, so he encouraged a visit while he toiled away
at home. On September 27th, Caroline boarded a flight
bound for Grand Rapids and was on her way for a week of family
visiting. Prior to the trip, it was decided that Caroline
would start and end her visit in Grand Haven where her mom and
stepdad, Bill live (and which is also her beloved hometown).
Those segments would bookend a 2-and-half-day visit to Lake
Orion (accompanied by her mom) to meet Kate and to spend time
with Jen and Christopher. It proved to be a perfect plan,
if one discounts the cold, rainy weather that was dialed up for
almost the entire Lake
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Labor Day Weekend in Lake Tahoe |
9/06/11 - Northstar-at-Tahoe,
CA
Saying goodbye to
summer with a holiday weekend of gorgeous weather and good
friends in northern California's premier lakeside playground |
Or was it gorgeous friends and good
weather? In any case, it was finally here - Labor Day
weekend! After many months of painstaking renovations,
friends Jen and Tod had put the finishing touches on their
beautiful and luxurious, 4-bedroom, mountain vacation home.
Located in the tranquil and scenic Northstar-at-Tahoe resort
community, they are just a stone’s throw from the north shore of
Lake Tahoe, along with a multitude of opportunities for outdoor
fun. And we, along with another couple, friends Mark and
Christine and their two kids, were lucky enough to score an
invitation for the weekend!
Friday got off to a bit of a slow start
with grocery shopping and some necessary work, but after
Christine and Scott were able to put their computers away after
working from "home" for most of the day, the weekend had a
decadently relaxed and leisurely pace to it and much time was
passed simply lounging around the house with the kids and the
dogs. Over the course of the weekend, one couple was
responsible for cooking dinner each night. Continuing the
relaxed pace
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Jamie & Andy Come to California for a Visit! |
7/20/11 - Oakland, CA
We welcome our first
visitors since our return to the Bay Area |
Last weekend, we welcomed friends Andy and
Jamie from Albuquerque as our first guests here in Oakland!
If you're wondering how they managed to get out here so fast, we
had actually arranged the visit prior to our departure from New
Mexico. Back in May, Andy already had plans to be in
southern CA for work in mid-July and thought it would be fun to
tack on a visit to us and then drive down the coast before his
work meetings began later in the week. And luckily, Jamie
was able to make the trip as well. Considering Scott's
hectic work schedule and it being the last full weekend of us
living in our sublet before moving into our new apartment, the
timing turned out to be a bit crazy and so we didn't quite
manage to roll out our usual red carpet for our guests as we
would have liked. But despite the circumstances, everyone
seemed to enjoy the visit, guests and hosts alike.
Saturday began with a delicious breakfast
at home of coffee, gourmet pastries, baguette, salami and
cheese, followed by a walk through the
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Moving Back to the (Other) City by the Bay |
6/20/11 - Oakland, CA
Returning to the Bay
Area - the Oakland neighborhood of Rockridge this time -
and the lifestyle we've been longing for |
With the exception of our wonderful friends
and our home that still contains much of our blood, sweat and
tears, we'd begun to feel as though Albuquerque had run its
course for us. We loved our house that we'd put so much
work into, our beautiful neighborhood in the Sandia foothills
and our fun-loving and kind-hearted friends. But there was
just something missing. We longed for the more urban,
cosmopolitan lifestyle centered around a mixed-use neighborhood,
where we'd walk to grocery stores, drycleaners, restaurants and
to catch the train to work that we'd left behind in San
Francisco nearly seven years ago - a less car-centric lifestyle
with a vibrant, bustling, neighborhood vibe was what we craved.
In recent years, our talk of leaving New Mexico had become more
frequent, but we were undecided as to where we'd go. We
weren't entirely convinced we were ready to return to the Bay
Area, but where then? So we left it to simmer, just under
the surface of the daily routine of our lives. As a record
cold and snowy winter turned to spring, we looked forward to
another warm (ok, hot!) and relaxing New Mexican summer
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California Road Trip - New Year's Eve in
San Francisco! |
12/31/10 -
San Francisco, CA
Day 7: San Francisco
- spending a relaxing day wandering the city and a rockin' NYE at
Perbacco and Bimbo's 365 Club with friends |
After a long day on the road the day
before, followed by a lively night out with Leane, we were quite
content to spend our only full day in the City staying within
leisurely walking distance of the hotel. Heading off on
foot towards Union Square, we stopped at some of our favorite
stores - Banana Republic, Crate and Barrel and CB2 - to drop a
little cash. From there we continued on to the beautifully
renovated, waterfront Ferry Building, where we enjoyed perusing
the impressive selection of gourmet offerings, such as fresh raw
oysters, cheeses and mushrooms. After pausing for a bit to
watch the ferries come in from the rear deck of the Ferry
Building, we moved on to an inexpensive hamburger lunch
(saving up in more ways than one for our NYE dinner reservation
later on) at the delightfully old-school Red's Java House,
conveniently located on the the waterfront just up the
Embarcadero from the Ferry Building. With full stomachs
and tired legs, we made one final stop at the Container Store to
pick up that extra spice rack basket we'd been wanting to add to
our set at home before returning to the Mosser to get ready for
our night out on the town.
Dressed in our black-tie finery, we continued our pleasant day
into the evening, meeting up with several friends for an
unofficial reunion at Perbacco, a casually upscale Italian
restaurant where our friend Kris has a friend who is a chef and
so was able to get us a somewhat last-minute reservation.
John
& Carey flew in from Hawaii where they now live, Kris and
Jessica arrived from Kansas City, although they live in New York
City and Jen and Tod made the long and
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California Road Trip! - Part 3 |
12/29 - 12/30/10 -
Morro Bay, Highway 1 & San Francisco, CA
Days 5 & 6: Coastal
California - a scenic drive up the coast, destination San Francisco |
Having spent two satisfying days exploring
the beaches of southern California, we were ready to continue on
our journey northward. After coffee in our light-filled room,
we packed up the car in the pouring rain, some of the only
inclement weather we saw on our trip, and headed up the coast
for Morro Bay, where we'd be sleeping tonight. The next two
days were primarily allocated for a leisurely, scenic drive up
the coast to San Francisco, where we planned to arrive on
Thursday afternoon. We set off, grocery store bagels in hand,
in the traffic and the rain. It looked like it might be a long
day. And it was. Our only stops of the day involved a quick
trip to Santa Monica to see if the CB2 downtown had any
must-have furnishings (nope, only some juice glasses we couldn't
resist), followed by a fruitless stop at an outlet mall in
Ventura, where we loitered in the mall parking lot to make our
final picnic lunch of the trip. Not really our finest
travel hour, to be sure. After
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California Road Trip! - Part 2 |
12/27 - 12/28/10 -
Dana Point, Laguna Beach & Newport Beach, CA
Days 3 & 4: the
Beaches of SoCal - enjoying the sound of the surf, the ocean
breezes and the sand between our toes |
Palm Springs had been kind to us on this trip
(as usual - we love that place!) and we were loathe to leave.
But
of course we were lured on by the prospect of exciting coastal adventures
to come, so on Monday morning we ventured on towards our next
destination.
After a couple detours due to the massive flooding they'd had
just a week earlier and an ocean-front picnic lunch at Dana Point, we found
ourselves at the Pacific Edge Hotel right in the heart of the
charming, bustling community of Laguna Beach. We were confident
we would like this hotel, since it was a Joie de Vivre
property. We've enjoyed stays at several JdV properties in the
past, so much so that we have a loyalty card for this California
boutique hotel chain. And how lucky for us, because upon
checking in we learned that we had been automatically upgraded to
a full ocean-front/view room (we had booked a non-view room at
the ocean-front property in an attempt to keep costs down) and
they threw in a full bottle of California red wine to boot, all
because we carried their free loyalty card. Sometimes,
membership does pay! The room, decorated in a
playful and
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California Road Trip! - Part 1 |
12/25 - 12/26/10 -
Palm Springs, CA
First stop: the
California Desert - enjoying the mild weather and natural beauty
of Palm Springs on our Christmas-New Year's holiday road trip |
Shortly after Thanksgiving, when we learned
that a couple bands we enjoyed during our days in San Francisco
would be playing on New Year’ Eve at a club we also favored, we
knew immediately what we were doing this New Year’s Eve – time
to head to San Francisco! As many of our friends and family
know, we gave up traditional gift giving long ago. But with a
black-tie optional event scheduled on NYE in San Francisco and
no other plans between Christmas and New Year’s (combined with
four paid holidays from work for Scott) we decided it was a
perfect time to treat ourselves to the California road trip we
had been longing for in lieu of all those gifts not given.
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Happy Holidays from Scott & Caroline! |
12/13/10 -
Albuquerque, NM
Scott & Caroline's
holiday greetings and 2010 Year-in-Review |
Holiday
Greetings
from Albuquerque!
Click here to see our 2010 holiday newsletter |
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A Holiday Celebration! |
12/11/10 -
Albuquerque, NM
Hosting a festive evening of cocktails, a gourmet meal and good
friends |
On a blustery Saturday evening, we built a
roaring fire, lit all the holiday candles and welcomed six
friends into our home for a festive dinner party in celebration of the
season. Greeting our guests with Yes We Canton cocktails
of ginger liqueur and pineapple juice topped with sparkling
Prosecco, we were feeling especially celebratory, since Petra,
despite a freshly broken leg, still managed to join us and was
even dressed in her Alpine holiday finery. Having just gotten
out of the hospital one week earlier, she was accompanied by her
attentive and devoted boyfriend Joe as well as her charming mom,
Liz, who had just arrived from England in order to help with
Petra’s convalescence and who even managed to make her famed
mincemeat pies for our dessert!
Our menu of pear gorgonzola salad with a
homemade balsamic vinaigrette, shrimp
bisque and beef Bourguignon over buttered and parsleyed egg
noodles, accompanied by several bottles of California and French
pinots and Liz & Petra’s mince pies with brandy butter was
well-received by all. Nikki and
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Happy Thanksgiving! |
11/29/10 -
Albuquerque, NM
Feeling extra
thankful as we host our first Thanksgiving in Albuquerque (or
anywhere, for that matter!) |
This Thanksgiving, we had the honor and privilege of hosting
Caroline’s entire immediate family for several days of eating
and other fun activities over the long holiday weekend.
Caroline’s sister Jen, brother-in-law Ivan and our 4-year-old
nephew Christopher flew in from Detroit on the Tuesday before
Thanksgiving and her mom and step-dad, also from Michigan,
rolled in via Amtrak in time for a family meal the night before
Thanksgiving. This year was a very special Thanksgiving for us,
not only because we were celebrating with family but also
because it was our first time ever hosting and cooking a
Thanksgiving feast. Several busy weeks were spent in advance of
the big day carefully planning and preparing for the
festivities. In the end, it proved to be time well spent and we
declared the weekend a success on all counts! Spearheaded by
Chef Scott, our menu of brined turkey, red-wine gravy, apple and
sausage stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole,
ginger-glazed carrots and bourbon cranberry sauce was made
almost entirely from scratch (excepting the green bean
casserole, since the Campbell’s soup version is a tradition from
Caroline’s childhood) and was definitely worth all the effort
that went into it! Kudos to the chef and to all of his many
helpers – he couldn’t have done it without them! And finally,
Scott’s delightful homemade desserts of traditional pumpkin pie
and a glazed chocolate tart rounded out the meal just perfectly.
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Glorious Natural New Mexico! |
11/08/10 - Various
mountains and parks, NM
Enjoying three seasons of the beautiful hiking trails New Mexico
has to offer (and located within 2-3 hours of our house!) |
New Mexico, home to stunning scenery and few crowds, has so many
fantastic hiking trails that it could accurately be nicknamed
the Hidden Gem State! While we are fortunate enough to
have the gorgeous Sandias, with their multitude of awesome
trails right in our backyard and take advantage of them as often
as possible, there are so many other wonderful areas in our
state to explore too! Loving every opportunity to get
outside, we managed to enjoy quite a few of them during the 2010
spring-summer-fall hiking season. This year, we made our
very first trip to Chaco Canyon (officially known as Chaco
Culture National Historical Park) over Memorial Day weekend and
couldn't believe we had waited so long - what an amazing and
intriguing park! In addition, we made return trips to some
areas we've enjoyed in the past: Bandelier National Monument,
Taos Ski Valley - Williams Lake Trail, McCauley Hot Springs
Trail in the Jemez Mountains and 4th of July Canyon in the
Manzano Mountains southeast of Albuquerque.
Hopefully next year, we'll have an opportunity to go further
afield as well, as there are many more wonderful New Mexico
hiking areas located within 3-5 hours from us that we're eager
to explore!
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Denise Celebrates a Milestone
Birthday |
10/31/10 - Las Vegas,
NV
Taking a road trip to Sin
City to give Scott's mom a special surprise for a special
birthday |
Even though we had just returned from a whirlwind 2-week trip to
France 10 days earlier, we couldn't resist the lure of a road
trip when Scott's dad asked us if we could come in Las Vegas in
order to surprise Scott's mom for her 60th birthday. We
jumped in the van early on Friday morning of Halloween weekend,
coincidentally passing Hoover Dam precisely when Scott's parents
were to be there taking a tour of the new bridge and dam.
We thought we'd stop and take a look at the newly finished
bridge, where we nearly ruined the surprise when we happened to
run into Scott's dad! Luckily, Denise didn't spot us and
we continued on to Las Vegas, surprising her in high style at
L'Atelier (de Joel Robuchon), where we were waiting at our table
with Darrin and Buddy, who had surprised her the day before,
when she and Jerry arrived. The look on her face was
priceless and the surprise was a success! Happy birthday,
Denise! (more
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Bustling Beaune, Gentrified Amboise |
10/19/10 - Beaune &
Amboise,
France (Shutterfly
photo album - Beaune area, Burgundy & Loire Valley, France)
Visiting the busy
wine town of Beaune in Burgundy and spending one fabulous night
in the lovely Loire Valley before traveling on home |
While we enjoyed a gorgeous sun-dappled drive in to Beaune the
weather quickly turned cloudy and cold, with bouts of wind and
rain. Along with the many other (mostly European) tourists
in town we didn't let this deter us; upon checking into the
charming enough Hotel de la Cloche, we even "enjoyed" (it
was a bit chilly for Caroline's taste, if she's honest...)
alfresco drinks at a busy cafe on Beaune's main square. As
the sun started to set and the day gave way to darkness, we
wandered town looking for a restaurant for dinner. Getting
chillier and chillier over the course of our stroll, we chose
the place with the roaring fireplace, precisely for the warmth
of the fire. Luckily the food was every bit as wonderful
as the cozy atmosphere. At the charming and friendly
Piqu'Boeuf, we enjoyed a local Haute Cote Burgundy
wine along with a traditional 3-course menu that included our
first taste of the famed regional specialties oeufs en
meurette (poached eggs in red wine sauce), boeuf
Bourguignon (mmm, more red wine sauce!) and local
Epoisse cheese - oh la la, delicieux!
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We're in Burgundy! |
10/14/10 - Pont
Aubert,
France (Shutterfly
photo album - Northern Burgundy, France)
Visiting the
charming, northern
region of Burgundy |
Approximately 2 1/2 hours southeast of
Paris lies the northern edge of Burgundy, renowned for their
wine and food - making it an obvious choice for our next stop
after leaving Paris. One of the first towns we came across
was Chablis, where we enjoyed the scent of wine in the air and
stopped in the local co-op to sample the first of many Burgundy
wines. The very scenic, but confusing, local roads led us
next to the historic, charming village of Vezelay, another
recommendation from our friend Christopher. We
arrived shortly before sunset, walking up the quaint but steep
streets to the Basilica Ste. Madeleine, located at the top.
The views from the walls of this hilltop town over the
surrounding villages and countryside were absolutely
spectacular, especially in the late afternoon light. The
basilica was beautiful, and we were there just in time to hear
vespers, adding to the ambiance.
Our hotel for the next two nights was the
Au Soleil d'Or in Pont Aubert, an extremely small village about
10 minutes east of Vezelay. This establishment was... just
fine. Quirkier than our contemporary room in Paris, the
friendly staff made up for a lot, especially the young man who
seemed to enjoy practicing his English with us, giving us a
welcome break from speaking French (or attempting to, anyway).
Upon finding many of the area's restaurants closed on Tuesdays
and Wednesdays, we ended up dining in the hotel restaurant both
nights of our stay, and were not disappointed.
Remember how we said it was unseasonably
warm in Paris? Well, no more! On Wednesday morning, we
stepped out of the hotel, breath visible, with all of our
sweaters, coats, gloves, and scarves on, and were still
freezing. After a quick stop in the work-a-day town of
Avallon for coffee and a (more
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Fantastique - an Excuse to Return to
Paris! |
10/11/10 - Paris, France
(Shutterfly
photo album - Paris, France)
With Caroline's
cousin living in Paris for a year, we have a great reason to
return to France. First stop, Paris! |
Last year, after learning that Caroline's
cousin Amelia and her husband Graham would be living in Paris
for a year so that Graham could work on his doctoral program, we
could not resist making plans for a visit. So last
Thursday we left Albuquerque with plans for a 12-day visit with
an itinerary including Paris, the wine country of Burgundy, a
brief stint in the Loire Valley, and a list of things to eat and
drink that would frighten most people.
We felt surprisingly good upon landing and
making our way to Amelia and Graham's apartment on Friday
morning, so we headed straight out for a walk and lunch of falafels
at one of their favorite falafel places (Marianne's) in the
Marais. We couldn't have asked for better weather, as
Paris was experiencing summer-like weather in October, after weeks of
cool, rainy days. We spent the day strolling and catching
up, having our first espressos and cafe cremes to keep the
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No More Carpet (in the Bathroom, Anyway)!! |
9/27/10 -
Albuquerque, NM
Our long-awaited
guest bathroom remodel is complete |
Back at the end of July, when
Caroline was recovering from oral surgery, we were just lounging
comfortably and relaxing on the sofa on the covered patio, since
Caroline wasn't yet up for doing much else. Somehow,
the conversation made its way around to how much we really want
to remodel the kitchen, and sooner rather than later. "But
what a big, expensive job," we thought, "especially since we
would need to do all the main area (non-bedroom) flooring at the
same time because it's all one large space. That's just
too much right now." And that's how our guest bathroom
came to be reborn. By comparison, it just seemed so
manageable...
The guest bathroom, with its smoked
glass shower door and scalloped sink molded from the counter was
in reasonably good shape. It was just rather bland,
style-less and just a little out-of-date. But
the clincher was the carpet. When we bought our house back
in 2007, both bathrooms were fully
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2010 Season Opening Night at the Santa Fe
Opera - Tailgate!! |
7/03/10 -
Santa Fe, NM
An evening of
champagne, gourmet food, friends, dramatic weather and Madame
Butterfly at the gorgeous Santa Fe opera house |
Late on Friday afternoon in the
blazing heat of a southwestern July, we set off in a caravan of
four vehicles headed for the Santa Fe opera, dressed to the
nines in our opera finery. Although the heat in
Albuquerque was relentless, as we set up our tailgate on the
opera theater grounds and kicked off the party with champagne
cocktails, the clouds rolled in, bringing with them a wonderful
cool breeze and also a few raindrops. Luckily, our
fabulous tailgate planners Erica & Eric didn't miss a beat and
we set up a large tent over our table, where we enjoyed an
amazing gourmet feast among friends of asparagus crepes, spicy
shrimp skewers, just-from-the-garden caprese salad, wasabi
salmon and cucumber cups, canapes of goat cheese, goose liver
pate and olive tapenade and gooey turtle brownies for dessert,
just to name a few of the delights on the menu. Except for
a very few drops, the rain held out during the meal as well as
during our stroll through the parking lot in order
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Celebrating Caroline's Birthday with
Friends in Albuquerque |
6/08/10 -
Albuquerque, NM
Christopher &
Margaret host a decadent fete in honor of Caroline's Big Day |
Back in April, when Christopher
found out that Caroline was having a birthday in June, he
graciously and enthusiastically offered to host a small
dinner party in her honor. When June 8th rolled around, it
was a beautiful, balmy summer day - perfect for a birthday
party! That evening, Caroline and Scott, along with
friends Julia, Jeremy, Petra and Joe, gathered in Christopher
and Margaret's tranquil backyard for a delightful evening
meal. Upon their arrival, Christopher greeted his guests
with mojitos and hors d'oeuvres of prosciutto-wrapped goat
cheese and delicious grilled shrimp. After a bit of
mingling in the garden, we were seated to a casual, yet elegant
alfresco meal of avocado salad with caviar, grilled chicken with
fruit salsa, eggplant halves and of course a homemade chocolate
cake complete with candles and champagne. What an evening!
The food was fantastic and the company even better (if that's
possible!); Caroline felt like one lucky birthday girl indeed! (more
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Concluding an Idyllic Spring-time Weekend in New England |
5/01 - 5/02/10 - Providence,
RI; Attleboro, MA & Narragansett, RI
Continuing to enjoy a
perfect spring weekend by celebrating at the wedding reception
of Ben and Melanie, spending a final evening in Providence and a
final morning down-state |
Saturday proved to be yet another beautiful
spring day; you simply couldn't ask for a better day to
celebrate a wedding! Ben and Melanie's formal reception at
the Highland Country Club started at noon, so on Saturday
morning we had time for coffee, a quick walk and a bagel before
we needed to get dressed and drive to Attleboro in the
fabulously fuel-efficient Yaris. Again, we were some of
the first to arrive so after signing the guest book and locating
our table cards we headed back outside into the gorgeous spring
sunshine to wait for additional Brookses to arrive. We
weren't sure quite what to expect, what with the small,
family-only ceremony taking place on Friday and the reception
beginning at noon the following day, but it proved to be quite
an elegant, well-thought out and well-orchestrated affair.
The reception began with drinks and passed hors d'oeuvres served
in the sunlit bar area adjacent to the dining room, after which
we were seated
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An Idyllic Spring-time Weekend in New England
- Part 2 |
4/30/10 - Providence,
RI; Bristol,
RI & Attleboro, MA
Exploring a new state
and attending the wedding ceremony of Ben & Melanie |
The following morning, as we set
out for a walk, we discovered that we couldn't have asked for a
better location for our hotel either! It was a perfect
spring day as we made the short trek to historic Benefit Street,
where we admired the beautifully preserved and restored homes on
that picture-perfect street. The trees and flowers, namely
beautiful tulips and bright yellow daffodils, were all in full
bloom and we could smell the lilacs that bloomed in manicured
yards as we passed. The delicious croissants we enjoyed
from a corner European bakery only added to our buoyant mood.
We continued our stroll on some of the more noteworthy
architectural streets in the College Hill area of town (as
pointed out to us before leaving home by our friend Margaret, a
former Providence resident), and across the small but pleasant
campus of the prestigious Brown University. We could have
walked for hours down all of the beckoning side streets, but
alas, it was time for lunch and we had big plans. We were
here for the seafood and we'd gotten a couple recommendations
from friends and family for Quito's Seafood Market and
Restaurant located just a short drive south of Providence in
Bristol, RI. After an enjoyable drive on this gorgeous
sunshiny Friday through charming small-town Rhode Island, we
arrived at Quito's. Upon being seated in the small dining
room, we proceeded to order a smorgasbord of fresh seafood off
the tempting menu: raw oysters, lobster bisque, a stuffed Quahog
(aka a stuffie), clamcakes and over a pound of steamers.
Everything was delightful (the bisque was positively divine!)
and we left feeling only
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An Idyllic Spring-time Weekend in New England
- Part 1 |
4/29/10 - Providence
& Newport, RI
Hitting the ground
running, we kick off our wedding weekend trip to New England
with a visit to Newport, RI |
When we
learned that Scott's younger cousin Ben, from Boston, was
finally tying the knot with his long-time girlfriend Melanie, we
thought this would be the perfect opportunity not only to see some family
from both Massachusetts and Michigan but also to add a new state
to our lengthy list of those we've visited: Massachusetts' petite
and often-overlooked
neighbor, Rhode Island. Being the travelers that we are,
there are very few states remaining that we have yet to visit and Rhode Island
was one of them so we were very excited to be able to add a new
notch to our belts and eat lots of seafood along the way. As the wedding festivities were to
take place in Ben's hometown of Attleboro, MA it made sense for
us to base ourselves in Providence, RI less than 30 minutes
away. It was to be a brief trip; we would be away for just four
days with two of them spent largely just getting to and from the east
coast. As it turned out, all of our advance research and
planning more than paid off and we spent four wonderful days
celebrating Ben & Melanie's marital union with Scott's mom, dad
and numerous Brooks aunts and uncles, as well as
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A Wall-full of New Windows and Doors, at
Long Last! |
4/19/10 -
Albuquerque, NM
After many months of
delays, mishaps and other foolishness, our new Andersen low-e, SmartSun wood-frame windows and doors are complete |
"Wow," you're
thinking, "they look the same as the old windows!" Yes
indeed, they do! We didn't want to replace our windows.
We loved our old windows, with their simple, narrow frames that
maximized the view, and we still have several remaining in the
rest of the house that did not need replacing. But the
east wall of our home gets some serious sun exposure and also
bears the brunt of any storms that pass through, coming in off
the mountains. Many of these windows and the master
bedroom patio door on the east wall of our house were leaking,
rotted or both and generally weren't too weatherproof, and
that we didn't love; they desperately needed replacing.
Our primary challenge with this project (other than just getting
the windows and doors ordered and installed, but I won't even go
there, except to say that we started this process back in
November...) was to buy brand new windows and doors that, at
least upon casual inspection, matched the original, 25-year
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R&R, Mexico Style |
3/30/10 - Puerto
Vallarta, Mexico
Enjoying some
much-needed tropical warmth, ocean breezes, and sand in between
the toes south of the border |
After a rainy and chilly trip to Phoenix, combined with the
stress from the window/door project that just wouldn't end, we
decided it was time to take drastic measures - time for a long
weekend in Puerto Vallarta! Our schedule turned out
to be a little busier than we would have liked but it was nice
to see old friends who still live in Mexico and the weather was
absolutely perfect! The condo didn't require too much
attention since we'd just been there last year and we still had
just enough time (well, ok, maybe not quite enough!) to spend
sitting at the beach or in our deck chairs on the condo's shared
pool deck overlooking the bay, drinks in hand (always!) - just
what the doctor ordered!
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A Winter Visit to the Valley of the Sun |
2/22/10 - Phoenix &
Scottsdale, AZ
Exploring
down-to-earth Phoenix and doing the requisite Scottsdale (&
Tempe) shopping...in the rain |
It's been a long
winter here in the Sandia Foothills of Albuquerque.
Unlike the lower elevation areas in town, we've been pounded with snow (relatively speaking, of course)
up here.
Our window and door installation has been dragging on, hindered
by measuring mistakes, weather delays and illness, and our
installer decided he wanted to work on finishing the drywall
windowsills and staining the newly installed doors and windows
all weekend. We needed to get out of here! We'd been talking
about going to Phoenix to enjoy some warmer weather and to look at some new dining chairs at Ikea
that will give a more updated look to our old wood table.
We
also had our eye on a couple different martini glasses (we've
become really into Hendrick's martinis lately) on-line at Crate & Barrel
and wanted to see them in person in order to make a decision.
Even though the forecast for the weekend was for disappointingly
chilly temps and rain, we decided to go anyway
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