Diamond Dave Takes Over Clayton

Diamond Dave held a summertime concert in the park in downtown Clayton on Saturday night. He sang all his (and my) favorites including Sexy Back, My Humps, Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot and many more for just about 3 hours. Everyone loves Diamond Dave since he takes classics and current hits and is a one-man show with his keyboard and does it all.

It was a hot night, but perfect for sitting and listening to music. The crowd was busy dancing and even started a congo line. Clayton is such a great place that has such small town charm. I loved growing up there and always feel nostalgic in their downtown.

I loved seeing everyone dance.


Thank you Amy for the wonderful suggestion of seeing DD in your hood. Loved it. Next up...Octoberfest in Clayton.

Chihuly at the de Young

If you haven't been to see the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young in San Francisco, I highly recommend it. Dale Chihuly is an American Glassblower who's work of colorful, vibrant glass is truly amazing to see in person. Jason and I went to the see it on Friday and loved it. I will admit, I'm not too into art exhibits or going to mueseums, but this is so spectacular you really can't miss it. The pictures don't really do it justice since most of the pieces are huge in size.

This was Jason's favorite:


This was mine. See the little angel:


The most amusing part was that no one was allowed to use a flash, but now with digital cameras no one knows how to turn off their flash. Every minute someone's flash would go off and you would hear security yell, "Turn off your flash!" Our camera kept re-setting the flash everytime you turned it off. I think ours went off about 5 times.

This was the best photo we could get of the 2 of us without the flash.


The Grand Finale

A Beautiful Wedding In Napa

Our family attended a wedding in Napa this past weekend for our good family friends' daughter, Ashley Ein. I had to share some photos since this was quite possibly the most beautiful wedding I have or will ever attend. Every detail was to perfection and it was the harmonious balance of nature and elegance. It reminded me that those little details all add up to a perfect event.


Ashley and her parents. The Ein's have been such wonderful friends to my family through the years. We met through swim team and they have always been so supportive to my entire family.


Harry and his beautiful wife, Cecilia. I loved being able to meet her since she was perfect and so sweet.


The band started the night out with the festive tradition of Hava Nigila. I love so many things about the Jewish culture. It is so rich in history and tradition. This is a song of celebration and means, "Let us Rejoice."


I was happy to be reunited with my friends, Meg and Beth. I love these girls. I have the best memories of growing up with these two and whenever we are back together the memories come flooding back.


Had fun hanging out with Heidi.


The tables were all under vines of trees. Very romantic.


My sweet hubby. I love this guy.

Fantasy Football Season

Tis the season of Fantasy Football. Jason had his draft last night and after weeks and weeks of research, analyzing, discussing amongst friends and watching clips his team is set. For the next 4 months my husband will be dating these players. He has won three years of the last 6, so I know his homework pays off.

GO JASON AND GO TEAM! I'll miss you, but hopefully I can get together with all other Fantasy Football Widows on Sundays.












Jason's Top Pick...Ladanian
I guess I'll be cheering for the Chargers this season

Powell's Sweet Shop

OK...so I have the biggest sweet tooth. I blame my Dad for inheiritening his and also for him constantly serving the very best deserts when growing up. If you have ever been to my parents house for dinner, then you will know after any meal they serve very elaborate deserts. Growing up like this, you have no way of denying the sweets.



Today I stumbled upon, Powell's Sweet Shop in Lafayette. It is relatively new and if you like candy, you should proceed with caution. The candy selection is totally overwhelming. They basically have everything and anything you could ever imagine. I walked around the place about 3 times before putting one item into my basket. Then I ended up with a very random selection of candy. When I got back to work with my selection, I'm now sitting here wondering if I even like half the stuff I got and why I didn't get what I really wanted, Charleston Chews.

Here is what I ended up with in my bag:
Now and Laters
Bit-O-Honey
Bullseye Carmel Creams
Root Beer Float and Dr. Pepper Fiz Candy
Strawberry Hard Candies
Butterscotch Hard Candies

I was debating a chocolate dipped graham cracker for a while, but then thought that would be kind of weird for me to eat at my desk without looking totally ridiculous. (We work in a very open enviornment.) One item I didn't see was a carmel apple. That is my favorite!!! Whenever I find them on vacations, I always buy one for the road.

Dana Carvey

The other night we went to Wente to see Dana Carvey, aka Garth, Church Lady, Choppin Brocolli, President Bush. Kelly was able to get us the best tickets for dinner and the show and it was such a fun night. The food was delish and the performance was hilarious. The opening act was Larry Bubbles Brown. He was a strange, little man that basically made fun of himself. After his jokes he would do a "WAAAAHHH", which you couldn't help but laugh and want to impersonate throughout the night.

When Dana Carvey came on, I knew it would be funny but was blown away by his talent. His inpersonations, jokes about current events and musical talent was A+. Jason loved the presidental humor. I'm always amazed with how comedians can keep an audience laughing for hours. I highly recommend that if he is visiting your town, you take the time to see him. Our entire table loved the performance and it was a very memorable night.

Our Ark Has One Less...

I'm still in denial and don't think it has truly hit me yet, but our animal ark is one less. We made the sad and hard decision a few weeks ago to try and find a new home for our little grey kitty, Sage. Shortly after getting Marley, we realized that Sage was not going to adjust to her new housemate. She already was a timid kitty and Marley made her even more isolated. We denied it for a year and finally made the grown up decision that if we could find her a better home, we would try.


I feel so lucky that we found the perfect match on where else but Craigslist. We were very honest that Sage would really do best if she was the only animal in the house (since even Serena would bully her) and someone contacted us last week to say she was interested. She came to meet Sage and decided she would like to take her home.

We will miss Sage so much! We had her for 5 years and she was such a love. She adored Jason and would sit on his computer modem for hours when he worked from home. I know in my heart that she will be so much happier and for that I feel relieved.

7/31/04

Today marks our 4-Year Anniversary! Sometimes I can't believe it has been that long, but then I look back and realize how much we have done together and realize it must be true.

I feel so honored to be married to Jason and everyday I count my blessings that I found my perfect match.

HOW WE MET...
Jason and I first met at 19 years old at a church parking lot. We were home from college for Winter break and my friend Hillary asked if I wanted to go out with some of her new guy friends from Chico. Cute Freshman Boys...who could pass that up? I agreed and was very excited to meet her friends that were all so cute. As I met everyone, I saw a familiar face that I knew also went to ASU. It was Jason. He was with his best friend Vince who lived in the same dorm as Hillary. I immediately told my girlfriends to keep their eyes off him, he was mine. Little did I know that this would be the guy that I married.

From Day 1, I loved so much about Jason, but most of all I admired how he made me want to be a better person. He is an eternal optimist and always looking for the good in everything. I loved that he was close with his parents, was friendly to everyone, had a heart of gold, would do anything for me and was always looking for a good time. When you meet your match at 19, there are definitely some challenges but we were able to get through them, grow up together and plan a future side by side. I look at our life together right now and am so proud of what we were able to accomplish together. Through all the bumps in the road I have such peace knowing that I will always have him right by my side to keep me going and keep me happy.

Our wedding was an amazing day and could best be described as a celebration. We were so lucky to have family and friends with us for a crazy night of dancing.

Cheers to many more Happy Years ahead!

Here are some of my favorite pics from our wedding and honeymoon.

Pastor Bill conducted the perfect ceremony for Jason and I. I always knew I wanted to be married in my church and his wisdom, witty personality and stories made the whole ceremony so special and pretty funny.


Our Wedding Party kept the Party Going


I love this photo. I laugh at it everytime I see it. Jason is throwing the garter and it looks like he is jumping about 10 feet in the air.


The dance floor was never empty. This was a party made for Jay and I.


Our 1st Dance.


Our Honeymoon to Bora Bora and Moorea

Our Home Above Water for 2 Weeks. Complete Paradise


The water truly is turquoise


Can't wait to go back one day...


AND YES, I have yet to order my wedding photos. I PROMISE (Mom and Dad) that I will have them ordered and on my coffee table by my 5th Anniversary.

We Got Stung

Last week while Hillary was in town, we went to the Sting concert. It was a gorgeous night at the Concord Pavilion and we were amazed when all 8 of us got upgraded to move from the lawn to seats that were really close. Sting was amazing to hear live and it was the perfect evening to spend with friends. I love outdoor concerts and it is one of my favorite things to do over summer.

Marley's Latest and Greatest

Yes, I am not embarassed to admit that I'm obsessed with taking photos of my animals. I'm sure if you are a fellow animal lover, you do the same. Here are some latest and greatest of our little lady.

Look who became friends...


One of Marley's BFF's, Rosy O'Brien


The face that makes us do anything for this girl


The face that makes you believe this little angel is so innocent

Lack of Posts

We had an accident the other night...












LACK OF POSTS

Update...after 24 hours the computer is working again. Sticky keys, but still working.

Golden Skate 2008

I'm not sure the last time you headed out to the roller skating rink, but for me it was last night. My friend from work Su See had her bday at Golden Skate for Monday Retro Night.


What an interesting place. The Golden Skate has not changed since 1982! The shag carpet, handrail, lockers and snackbar are all the same and are in need of a major makeover. I had lots of laughs at all the characters that joined us as we completed our laps around the rink while disco tunes blared. My favorites were a few of the regulars that were practicing their choregraphed moves very seriously. It reminded me of a movie scene where Will Farrell might be practicing his routine for a rollerskating dance off. My new best friend was the rollerskating security guard that held 3 jobs as the security, the DJ and also the skate rental attendant.

If you are thinking of heading for a night of laughs (and also somewhat of a workout), I would recommend rollerskating. However...bring your hand sanitzer and maybe even a flask.