Why its almost like being in love

Now I know that the California weather isn't quite like the good ol' mid-west and the four seasons seem to merge together a little more than the distinct changes back home, but after living here it is safe to say, we have entered fall like the rest of you back home.

Unfortunately for me, our palm tress don't change color and while leaves drop, most drop the same green color they were. But the air has a crispness to it and the smell of Fall. I love it. This weekend the rain started in though...which actually is the start to our winter...but the air still feels fall to me so I am not pushing winter quite yet! I love the way Fall makes me feel.

I love the desire to cuddle up, light candles and read a book (or in my case watch Monk almost all day!)

I love hot showers on cold rainy days

And I love the motivation I start to have for baking pumpkin treats, homemade soups and hot cranberry tea. And best part of that is sharing it with others!

This time of year makes me think of home more than any other time. The anticipation for the Holidays with my family, the new goals that will come with the new year just around the corner, the preparations for the perfect gifts and being with people I love.

At this point last year, my countdown to go home was much shorter as I was lucky enough to go home for Thanksgiving. As the years go on I had to expect that the privilege of going home 2 times in 2 months would leave, but the countdown still is on...less than TWO MONTHS and I will be with my family again for 2 weeks! I cannot wait.

Until I get to go home I get to look forward to:

• Making homemade Potato Soup (wont be as good as my moms or grandmas but Paul has never had potato soup so I look forward to sharing it with him)
• Making pumpkin pie
• Looking for new pumpkin treats to make (I am totally craving Pumpkin right now!)
  
• Making my list and shopping for Christmas gifts
  
• putting up my Christmas tree
• Watching Christmas Vacation..wont be the same without repeating it all with my family
  
• listening to Christmas music (that came out weeks ago!)
• AND sharing my first Thanksgiving with Paul and his family...a Latin Thanksgiving...wish me luck and I am nervous as can be.
  

I can't believe that November is just a week away! Clearly I am ready to pass over my least favorite holiday, Halloween and get into my favorite time of year! But really, where has 2010 gone?!

Friday Favorite

Thanks Sarah for the advice to do a weekly blog that I just always can do. I am sitting at work and randomly started thinking about some of my favorite things and decided to do a weekly "Friday Favorite" blog. Today's is easy as I am wishing I was doing it right now.

My favorite thing to do on a chilly rainy day.

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain dropping and cuddled up close to Paul (and by this morning I mean 5am as he had to get up for work...boo) and was so cozy warm next to Paul I didn't want him to leave, I was thinking, "this is perfect." But now sitting at work and cold from being wet and tired cause the rain is slowing me down I wish I could do my favorite thing on a rainy day...

If I wasn't a "grown up" with a real job, I would stay in my sweat pants (oversized and cozy of course) a big sweatshirt, cozy fuzy socks and my stalking hat (have to be warm!) I would have a hot coffee drink in hands, lite candles, and just watch movies in bed. I would order take out and just stay inside for the day. Of course in this perfect rainy day a LONG, HOT shower is in order too. I would be cuddled up with my kitty and my boyfriend and his dog and we would be lazy foolies all day listening to the rain and watching movie after movie. Knowing Paul and I too, I would be doing Sudoku through out the day and he would be working on his crossword puzzle helping each other out here and there.

Sounds like a good rainy day huh?

Go SF Giants!!

Not in a million years did I expect to get hooked on the SF Giants baseball team. I mean, really? I lived in Chicago with 2 baseball teams and I don't have a clue about either team, but move to SF and start dating a baseball fanatic and you too will become obsessed. The Giants are an interesting to team though, and they make it easy to get hooked. Unlike the Yankees, the Giants are not constant winners. They are kinda like a bi-polar baseball team. You have a great game one night and the next night you are making mistakes left and right. For instance, Sunday night we loss...big time, and I hate to say this but we loss for good reason, imagine a batter hitting a fly ball, then imagine 3 Giants player running to catch that fly ball, then imagine all 3 Giants standing in a triangle and the ball goes right in the middle with not one of them actually trying to catch the ball! yes, on nights like that, we deserve to lose. But then you take last nights game and it gets me so excited! I suppose this season is a good season to become a Giants fan since they are in the playoffs and if we win tonight, fingers crossed, we go on to the world series! Maybe they are doing so well because I became a fan ;)

AT&T Park- where the Giants play

Paul and his whole family are die hard fans. The bug was easy to catch since him nor his family miss a game. I suppose its their family bonding, maybe comparable to my family and theater? Paul is becoming pretty superstitious though. Now that the Giants are going so far and doing so well he is participating in the "Fear the Beard" challenge. His favorite player, Brian Wilson, is the closing pitcher. Wilson is pretty amazing, we have watched interviews with him and he is super corky and odd but hilarious and one of the most talented pitchers! He closes the game because his pitches are fast and furious and RARELY do men score off his throws, in fact it is a rare occasion when one even gets a hit. The ninth innings are usually pretty fast on our end because of him! "Fear the Beard" though is for Wilson. He has a crazy huge bread, which is dyed black and pretty ridiculous, like him, so those die hard Wilson fans are not shaving their beard till the Giants are done. Therefore, Paul is participating, boy is he participing, his beard is getting crazy thick (and itchy he claims) but he refuses to shave it, not even the "neck beard" that is growing, his exact words "if I shave at all they could lose, so neck and itchy beard are getting touched!"

I can't seem to find a good picture of Wilson's current beard but go to this link and you can see it: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5709384


If you want to get a sense of his strangeness, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf0j1rmZVbM

Wilson and Posey (Paul's favorite and My favorite)

Now my favorite player is #28 Buster Posey. My attraction to Posey may have started with the fact that his number is 28 but my love for him has expanded. He is one of the youngest players (23), an amazing catcher and one of the BEST batters on the team. He rarely disappoints and I appreciate the consistency of him. I mean the team fluctuates enough so knowing that Posey is pretty darn consistent I can relax every 8th batter and when he is behind the plate catching those balls!

Good ol' Buster hitting it out of the park :)

Cooking

So I might not have followed all my goals from what was it, September? But one thing Paul and I are both doing much better at is cooking. Well, really I should say Paul is an EXCELLENT cook and I am just as good of an eater and dish washer :) But on those few nights that Paul and I do our own thing (Tuesdays since he is playing in Pool League) I have been cooking scrumptious meals, that I end up taking to him the next day for lunch!

Thought I would share the two most recent ones!

First I made homemade Chicken Fried Rice. I went to the local produce market and picked up: Carrots, onions, corn, zucchini, green pepper, chives, garlic and broccoi (all organic) The beauty of California, I bought ALL of that for $6!! I cut it up and put it in a frying pan with olive oil, salt and pepper.

I steamed 1 cup of Indian Rice (just cause that's what I like) Take 20 minute and is so yummy... this would be better with day old rice, but I didn't have that so I just cooked some up and let it cool.

I also cut up 2 chicken breast and fried it in Olive Oil with Salt and pepper on the chicken. When the veggies are softer, I added 2 eggs and scrambled it up, put the chicken in and started adding some soy sauce.

I then added all the rice into the pan with the eggs, veggies and chicken and started frying it up. I smothered it with Soy Sauce and let it cook for less than 5 mins.


It was a HUGE meal and so delicious!

The next week I made a shrimp and veggie pasta (spicy) I failed to take pictures until it was made, but I can tell you what I did :)

I cut up onions and green peppers and started sauteing them in olive oil with lots of pepper on them.

I then took fresh shrimp and added them into the frying pan with a little butter (since lets face it while bad for you, butter is good!) I didn't want to over cook the shrimp so I turned the heat down and smothered the pan with hot sauce.

I cooked up angel hair pasta, drained it, put some olive oil on it with salt and pepper and then tossed the veggies and spicy shrimp in it.

I toasted a piece of garlic bread and I had a delicious spicy meal!


Again, I am not near the cook Paul is, but I am learning. The bad thing with Paul cooking all the time, I am falling in love with spicy food and can't seem to get enough of it. The past 6 months I have gone through way too much hot sauce!

For the most part, I am fine letting Paul do the cooking, but every once in a while I think I can do a pretty darn good job.

I made him a "midwest" meal the other night consisting of Grilled Steak, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Corn on the cob, sauteed mushrooms and texas toast. We were too hungry to try to take a photo, but it was good. I couldn't believe I had never made it for him, and while it is far from a Cuban meal, I think he enjoyed it. I just can't wait to get him back home so he can have REAL steak and not this thin crap we call "steak" here!

Need Help

Okay, so this is clear, I am not good at writing on my blog daily when I don't have given topics. Really, my life just isn't that interesting....SO.... to my few followers I approach you for help, anything you want to know? Any topics you can throw my way?

I would LOVE to write more, but honestly, I just don't have many topics to write about. So please please please send me topics and I promise I will write about those topics! :)

Finding New Forms of Transportation

October started off a little rough for me. I always dread the first of the month since Rent is due and rent here is far from cheap I always hate seeing the dip in my bank account. Well October's dip ended up being far larger then I ever expected and the final sign that "its time!"

No need to get into the chunk of money that went into getting my car out of the tow lot, lets just say, I got my car back in my possession, paid rent and cried, a lot! But this unexpected expense opened my eyes to the reality that it really is time to sell my car!

Transportation is a funny thing. Growing up in small town Iowa, you kinda rely on cars to get you from point A to point B. Need to go to the store, need to get in the car; want to go to the movies, get in the car; friends house, you're gonna drive...you get the point. Before you even learn how to drive, the car is the most typical/logical way to get anywhere. As a kid I had a bike and rollerblades, but those were for fun. Not really transportation. We would bike around on a sunny summer day and really have no "point B" in mind. When I moved to Eldridge, I do remember walking a little more. I would walk to elementary school but even some days in there, I would have a ride. I started playing Tenor Sax in jr. high and clearly wouldn't dream of carrying that thing home, so of course would get a ride. And, as soon as I was a freshman I got my school drivers permit and DROVE to school. Now I have never calculated this before but according to Google Maps, my home was 0.6 miles from school. Not even a mile. Google claims i could walk there in 10 min and drive in 3 min. And yes, even though parking was a bitch and traffic leaving school at the end of the day was a headache, I drove those 0.6 miles every single day. Also, lets remember, I lived in a VERY SAFE neighborhood. Walking after dark, not an issue.

When I moved to Stevens-Point, WI, a car was in order. Another small midwest town that was a half hour/45 min drive to get anywhere (food, shopping etc). The car was also great for the 5.5 hour drive back home once a month, ah those were the days!

Chicago started changing my mind. I no longer NEEDED a car. In order to go home I someone had to come pick me up which was a bummer, but I didn't NEED the car in the city. I became accustomed to the "El" and buses. Not bad. Being a student there part of our tuition was a pass to the train and buses for unlimited rides all semester. I also lived less then a block away from food, groceries, coffee, and the Red, Orange and Green train lines. Easy! 8 months after living there though I "needed" my car to leave town so I rented a parking space for the month...one month turned into almost 3 years with my car. When I moved to a new apartment it came with a parking spot, so why would I ever get rid of it? I drove to friends house, the store (so I didn't have to carry groceries back of course) and really, everywhere. I was back to being one with the car. Shoot!

The move to SF brought on a lot of expenses so I thought "hmm if I sell my car I could get that money and then have a little more of a 'nest egg'" But then was informed by a teacher who lived in SF for over 20 years that if I have/use a car in Chicago I would be lost with out a car in SF. I listened and drove my car across the country to SF. And I am glad I did. I ended up living in East Bay (less than 10 miles from the city) but far enough that a car became a necessity once again. Everyday I sat in my car through morning and evening rush hour traffic (a good 3 hours a day, what a waste). I spent $10 a day to park it near work, I put over $30 of gas in it each week, it was depressing. All my hard work was going to this big material which I was so sick up.

I finally moved into the city in a PERFECT location. A few problems arose though: I don't have CA license Plates so therefore I can't get city parking tags, and I can't really afford to switch my plates to CA so I am stuck parking miles away from my house and moving it once a week.

This has been an interesting task the past 6 month. Where to park the car. I was parking it a mile away up this HUGE hill. I mean the hill is so steep that I would seriously have to take breaks while walking up it. That got old, fast! So then I figured out the Mission distract, while not the cleanest or really safest (just a lot of bums and drug addicts roaming the streets...I am never in danger) areas, i was there a lot since Paul lives in the Mission and all of my dance rehearsals, yoga and pilates are there as well! Flat streets are my kind of streets! Great, I found parking, but that is all I do, park! I move my car 1 to 2 times a week to a new parking spot because of street cleaning. Usually in those days we take Paul's laundry to my place to do (I have a washer and dryer and he doesn't) and then I go back to parking it. This is unsafe and a sure way to get broken into, towed or even stolen...

While I have LOVED my little Lancer, its been good to me, the stress and expense of it is just too much these days. The .6 miles I could have walked to school back in the day seem like nothing as I recently calculated that I, on average walk 10 miles a day these days. And really, I love it! So the car is now on the market. I have a few people who are potentially interested (friends actually) Which would be great because if by chance I would need it, I am sure I could borrow the good ol Lancer for a spin around the block or a shopping spree at Target (no Target in the city...must drive 30 min outside...wah wah!).

Now I have played the walking game for about 6 months and it has not been bad to me. But the busier I get the more I realize that I need an addition solution. So now I am on a mission, find a bike. Did you know that GOOD street bike can cost $1,000- $2,000!! No joke! I about had a heart attack when starting research. So I am reaching out to ya'all for advice. I have had some really great advice from JoHo's brother who knows a lot about bikes, but this purchase is going to be a big deal I think. I would like to not spend more than $500 if at all possible, and even that will have to come AFTER the car is sold even though I want it NOW! :) But in a city that bike rule, I am ready to join in and become that "biker chick!" ;) Cheap (in the long run), easy, good work out and much quicker than walking! I can't wait to truly feel like a San Franciscan! Any advice on good road bikes (for a reasonable price) send my way!