A Passport is a Girl's Best Friend

Duane and I drove down to Paso Robles to visit our very good friends the Mott's for the Paso Wine Festival. Friends, games, Lizzy time and drinking. Who could ask for more. This is Lizzy. She is adorable Yup Best Friends The Motts

I am a regular of the Western Psychological Association annual conference, where I am normally presenting the latest updates on my research. This year I am giving a talk to launch my pet project and introduce it to the research community in addition to four of my students presenting their posters on the same data set. It was quiet an successful conference. As I was heading to Reno, I was thinking, Reno is ok right. Not. Ug, Reno sucks. 

  Duane and I met some good friends out in Livermore for some lunch and wine tasting this weekend. When we were hunting for a wedding venue we stumbled upon Sauced, a Georgia home style BBQ joint located on the quaint Main St of Livermore, the smell of the place is absolutely mouthwatering. Looking for any excuse to return, we had our friends Marco and Alyssa join us for a pre-tasting meal. After sufficiently (x10) satisfying ourselves, we drove out into the valley for some vino at Concannon Vinyards and to enjoy the amazing weather. Yes, spring has come!

Sister-wife date night in San Francisco; Two of my favorite things in the whole world, it really can't get much better. I took BART out to SF and Miss Chrissy Lowe picked me up to whisk me off to Archimedes Banya & Pectopah, an international "banya" in the Bayview Hunters Point district. This spa prides itself on blending the 'past and present', where ancient traditions of Greek laconica, Turkish hammam, German thermen, Russian banya and combining modern science and technology to create an unique urban spa experience. You have a  choice of heated rooms, ice-cold pools, sunning on the roof top deck with breathtaking views - you can have it all in a quintessentially San Francisco style. It was such a relaxing experience. We lounged around and just enjoyed the serene and tranquil environmental. After we were all zenned out, we headed back to the Château Lowe-Hédouin where french cheese, leek fondue, broiled halibut and fantasti...

"It's always further than it looks. It's always taller than it looks. And it's always harder than it looks."    -- The 3 rules of mountaineering The weather has been absolutely stunning lately; sun, mild temps with hints of spring, however, no snow. Duane and I decided to take a break from the mountains, since there is only ice on the slopes, to enjoy the bay area's recent weather. We rounded up a group of friends to schlep over to Stinson Beach and hike in the northern part of Muir Wood on a trail loop called Steep Ravine. After 8.2 miles, a 1,600ft elevation climb, dodging obstacles, fake sword fighting on a fallen tree over a ravine, fighting off frost bite, no sprained anything and 3.54 hours later, we made it back to the car. It was unanimously voted one of the best trails ever with the perfect mixture of woods, rock climbing, sun, scenic views and length. Such a great day. Stinson Beach at the bottom On...

As some of you know, the last month and a half has been non stop construction in our living room area. We are replacing our Eichler-esqe inspired wall of single-paned windows with dual pane. On the side of our living room is a staircase that leads to the media room. I have always wanted a staircase with pictures going up it. I love pictures. To me they represent amazing memories, friends, irreplaceable experiences, and life changing events, something I want my house to be filled with. I will  admit it, this project is 100% the result of Pintrest. While in Europe, I got slightly addicted (don't worry I kicked the habit upon returning to the states), but I found some great decorating ideas that I loved. One was to frame pictures and use the city map from the place you are as the mat. Awesome idea! And I had tons of maps from our travels! So as the idea evolved and creativity was awoken, the project (surprise surprise) grew. The staircase pre any work (*note did not ...

My birthday. This day is a mixture of things:  Officially in my late 20's 1 week after Christmas and 2 days after New Years Eve Slight unfortunate timing due to its position in the holidays The last "holiday" of the season Right smack at the start of ski season This year, I decided that I wanted to round up a bunch of friends and go skiing for the weekend. Duane and I have become regulars on the Kirkwood Mountain since we started dating, and season pass holders for the last two years. I was lucky enough to convince 11 friends to carpool up on my birthday weekend, share a giant 5brd condo 2mins walking distance from the ski lifts and ski all weekend. We had a BLAST!! Some of the birthday crew Best birthday present! A little birthday wine tasting AND Lizzy's first time to the snow!