A Passport is a Girl's Best Friend

Today Duane and I drove up to Bodega Bay for a crab feed at the Grange. One hour to eat endless amounts of Cioppino and Italian vinegar crab. To. Die. For. To top it off, it was a beautiful warm "winter" day and the California coast was absolutely stunning. Getting ready Making the Cioppino crab. My favorite Someone was ready to eat!! Went for a walk to the beach to walk off our full bellies DANGER DANGER DANGER Pretty beach And to top off the weekend. My new toy. Picked it up last night and got to drive it up the California coast on a beautiful day. This weekend could not get any better!!

Duane and I had to go into the city on Saturday to pick up his wedding ring at the Jewelry Exchange, so we used this excuse to hang out in the city and enjoy the beautiful weather. Even though I lived in the city for 7 years, I never really explored Chinatown so after running our errands we drove over to Union Square to walk a few blocks to the district. San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest in North America and has the largest Chinese community outside Asia. Chinatown Gateway Arch or the "Dragon Gate" at the start of the district Just a few blocks walking down Grant St. we ran into Old St. Mary's Church. Old Saint Mary’s Church Saint Mary's survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, only to be gutted a day later by the fires started by the earthquake. When you walk in you can tell the church has lacked some upkeep over the years (e.g., paint peeling, missing concrete, water leaks), but they are in the process of a major restoration project. ...

It is becoming a tradition that Duane and I plus a giant group of friends rent a house in Kirkwood for a weekend to celebrate my birthday. In all reality, I am just using my birthday as an excuse to hang out with my friends and ski for a weekend. I got to hang out with my two favorite little ones, Lizzy and Myka On Saturday it (FINALLY) started to snow, so some of us decided to go for a walk and do some sledding. \ Myka's first trip to the snow! Both father and daughters' first time sledding Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! Had to show these kids how to sled the right way The other birthday girl was le tired Lizzy and Nolan heading out to the snow. She was not amused... After a long day of skiing and sledding, all 13 of us gathered around and started a marathon of Settlers of Cattan and Catch Phrase. The most addicting game ever. I am one lucky girl to have such great friends. :)

Some of our great friends (Meaghan and Nolan) moved down to Paso Robles earlier this year and we have made it a habit to visit them every few months. This weekend we decided to visit Hearst Castle. Hearst Castle is a National and California Historical Landmark mansion located on the Central Coast of California. It was designed by architect Julia Morgan between 1919 and 1947 for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. In 1957, the Hearst Corporation donated the property to the state of California and it has since been maintained as a state historic park where the estate. The Casa Grande entrance (the main house entrance) Living room all decked out for Christmas Dinning room Don't worry, you can even get ketchup and mustard here Bath house The Neptune Pool and ancient Roman temple which was transported wholesale from Europe and reconstructed on site. Looking up at the house Amazing tiles from Italy and Greece Beautiful...