Travelogue, earth date 06172009

30.

I woke up this particular morning with a new age to my name.

Of course, when I awoke there was no one in the room and I woke at my own ever-so-slow pace. I grabbed a handful of salt-water taffy for breakfast, picked up "Austenland" and began reading which then led to finishing the book. Then I grabbed my caffeine-free Diet Pepsi (really, should I be drinking something with so many words in it's title?) from the mini fridge and turned on the TV. The morning of champions....no doubt.

Brainless television.

We have two televisions in our home. No cable, no converter boxes, no nothing. Just good old fashioned movies, so this was something new to me. After two episodes of "True Hollywood Stories" (one about Full House the other about Home Improvement), I realized I wasn't missing anything in life by not having the thing blaring in my home all day and decided to turn the thing off and get ready.

I was supposed to meet up with Todd at the office around 11am. So, I put on my walking shoes and headed to Old Navy. My friend told me there was a bargain basement with killer deals there. I got there and the bargain basement was shut down.

Wah.

But I did pick up something cute for the girls and some shirts for Todd (all men's stuff was 1/2 off...that's a bargain) and headed back to the office. While waiting for their meeting to end, I started reading Sense & Sensibility. Tough one to get into. I think I read the first chapter twice just to get into my head all of the different characters in the book.

Lunchtime! The group came out of the meeting and we walked to this little place called Sam's. The atmosphere was bland (okay, maybe "original"...the decor probably hadn't been changed since it had first opened 50 years ago) and the food was normal (something I could have made at home)...but then again, I was comparing it to the meal I had last night. However, I loved that all the waiters were wearing tuxedos and each of them had accents from different countries.

The rest of the group had to return to the airport. We said our good-byes to his co-workers (great group of people, I had a lot of fun with them) and Todd and I started out on our journey for a long day of walking.

First stop to the start of our vacation together:

Coit Tower

The walk there was enjoyable as we had just a slight breeze most of the way. The weather was perfect. Sunshine and the perfect temperature. I could not believe how many hills we had to trek to get to the tower, and what amazed me even more was seeing this:

Imagine walking home from a long day at the office, only to have to hike more stairs to get to your apartment? Or what about calling the Elder's Quorum President to help you move? How many guys do you think would show up that day? Crazy!

The ride up the elevator kind of reminded me of the ride "Tower of Terror." There was this cute little Asian lady that would open the door, push the button and then let us out. Imagine that job! She did have a tip jar attached to one of the walls...fair enough. She did try to give us some history of Coit Tower on the ride up and down, but her English was so broken that none of us in the elevator really understood. You could tell by the long pauses of silence and the occasional sympathy laugh after she said something she would smile at. I liked her....none of that was very tower of terror-y, but the creeky old elevator itself was what reminded me of the scary amusement ride.

Then came the decent down the hill to our next stop....but first, a quick stop to take a couples picture:

We could see from Coit Tower where we were headed next, Lombard's Crooked Street.

This is taken from the backside of the upper picture...you can see Coit Tower here on the right...we walked from there to the famous street

It was a straight shot there...as far as the road goes but it went up and down and up and up and up. We hesitated walking up the jiggedy-jaggedy street as we were starting to get sweaty and tired, but I am glad we did. The homes along Lombard Street were beautiful and well maintained. But our favorite was at the top....we watched as a man on a motorcycle decided to descend down the crookedest street and after only 15 feet, you could see the panic on his face as he thought "I am going to tip this bike and not make it down safely."

Can you see him in this picture..this was right before he decided to think twice at that little landing pad.

Todd had just recently finished a motorcycle class and was loving every minute of it (so were many other tourists as it was as though he was now the dare-devil entertainment for the afternoon)...the biker parked his bike on the first level spot he could find and we didn't stay around to see if he was going to finish going down or forget what the signs say about it being a one way street and just head back from whence he came (that is what I would have opted for).

Then we chose to walk back to the apartment, but the route we took was not one that I think many tourists should ever take. Every city has their sketchy parts of town, and we found San Francisco's.

The reason we took this route was because, we wanted to see the walking distance from the Orpheum Theater to our Hotel. Bad/Good idea. Bad because I clung to Todd for fear of being stolen (yes, I know that sounds dramatic). I couldn't believe how many people would just come up to Todd and either put their arm around him and ask for money honestly saying it was for beer, or just yell. It reminded me of all the homeless people in Hawaii and the horrible addiction to Ice that is plaquing them there.

It was good because it let us know that we should probably take a cab home from the Orpheum Theater that night and not attempt to walk home so late at night.

We made it home in one piece and I was only shaken a little. After a nice nap and showers, we headed to my Birthday restaurant of choice....Burger King. After so much fancy food (two meals is so much, in my book) I really just wanted something cheap and greasy.

After our very fancy feast, we headed to the Orpheum Theater, this time walking on the opposite side of the street, having taken note earlier that it contained less people that I might have to turn away because I wasn't in the mood for handing out cash. And for having those less charitable thoughts (and probably because I was wearing heels) I got a blister on each foot shortly before arriving at the theater.

What were we going to the theater for?

WICKED!!!!!!!

I had heard great things about it, and everyone who has seen it has just raved. And after sitting through it (my blisters no longer bothered me once I was engulfed in the story and the amazing vocal talent) I can see what the buzz is all about. It was a fantastic musical (I like musicals of almost all nature....however, the last time Todd and I saw a musical was in Boston and we left at Intermission because of it's vulgarity and sexual content....I am a PG kind of person).

The cab ride home was fabulous (on my feet) and I had secretly hoped that San Francisco had one of those "Cash Cabs" (yet another brainless show Todd and I found ourselves watching frequently while at the hotel) so that we could win some fun money to compensate for what we/I were/was spending. No money won, but the cab driver was friendly and took our money without any problem.

Yes, I know that's his job. And I was grateful to not have to hobble home with bad blisters. I would have made a pathetic pioneer.

Travelogue, earth date 06162009

WARNING: Serious picture overload, and I have even cut them down quite a bit. If you want to see all the sights, please go here.

This pictures was taken right outside the Ferry Building

Last Tuesday we arrived in a very cold and gloomy Oakland California (thanks to all those who suggested we bring jackets and dress in layers). I tagged along for the ride with three of Todd's co-workers; a Project Architect, Greg, a Project Manager, Stephanie and an intern-architect, Jake from E.D.A. Todd's firm has been put on a very large job for the University of Utah and one of the companies that is teaming up with them is NBBJ in San Francisco. It turns out that Todd may have the opportunity to travel to and from San Fran quite a bit until this job is done.

Part of the reason I got to tag along was that Todd's trip just so happened to fall on the same day as my big 3-0 birthday. What better way to celebrate than to get away! I had hesitated going, because Todd has been saving up for a motorcycle and this would have cut into his funds a bit, but he insisted and I went. Sweet guy.

We took local transportation the whole time and walked a ton. You know the Primary song where the pioneers "walked and walked and walked and walked and walked." We did just that (thankfully our feet were well shod...except for the night we walked from our hotel to the Orpheum Theater and I was wearing heels and got some brutal blisters). I was certain that I would have lost at least 10 pounds by the time we got home, but I hadn't even lost an ounce.

Lame.

Back to day one....

Upon arrival at the offices of NBBJ, we dropped off our bags and asked one of the principals what she suggest we do until the time of the actual meeting. She printed out a map and drew up a walking route, and then we headed out on our first adventure. We walked from downtown San Fran to the Ferry Building, Pier 1. Many people told us about the seals, so we went searching for them. We could smell them before we could see them and who knew that watching seals could provide for so much entertainment. They sure can be brutal to one another...kind of like my kids. Oh...how it reminded me of home.

Then we walked along the Embarcadero past each and every single pier known to man until we arrived at Pier 39.

Here I am trying to shoot a picture of Todd and I as we were leaving Pier 39...but I got more of my double chin in the picture than Todd.

That particular day it wasn't very busy. Lot's to eat there (we would save eating there for another day), but my personal favorite was the candy store. We loaded up on Salt Water Taffy (maybe that's why I didn't lose any weight) and agreed that we should walk on and eat at Ghiradelli Square...so the walking began again.

Todd's pretending to crush some cocoa beans...I bet they didn't dress that nice in the factory.

I had expected something totally different than what we got when we arrived. that picture of Todd is the closest thing to a factory I saw. I had hoped for huge vats of hot melted chocolate and spoons that we could just dip in and devour (I know, unsanitary) and tons of free chocolate at the end of some tour that we had to wear nets on our head for. No tour. Jake said that they probably outsource everything nowadays and that it is probably made in china. I hope not. I suppose I can just go to the Sweet's Factory here in Utah to get this fix, eh?

Upon arriving at Ghiradelli we realized that our time was cutting close to the meeting so we grabbed a bite to eat (YUMMY club sandwich for me, and Clam Chowder in a Sourdough bread bowl for Todd) and caught the F train/trolley thing back into town. We made it back 3 minutes before their meeting began. Phew!

Todd was worried as to what I would do while he was in the meeting. I, however, wasn't worried at all. I had brought along a book to read (Austenland, thanks for the recommendation Em and thanks to Janel for letting me borrow it) and had some cash in hand to shop with (thanks for the Birthday money mom Riches). I stopped in Children's Place and got each of the kids something small (and under $6 a piece) and then walked up the street to Banana Republic where I got Todd the ever-so-cliche-riffic Tie for Father's Day (from the kids, of course) and a nice shirt for him to wear at the next day's meeting. I did get myself two cute little tops too (notice the green shirt in the picture below). Then with just 2 more hours to spare, I stopped in at a little nail salon with no other customers and asked for a manicure (I thought it was way too cold to take off my shoes) and the cute little Vietnamese lady insisted on a pedicure too. I told her about the time I had and she said she could do it. So with the warm water bubbling around my feet, I pulled open my book and fell into a deep trance whilst having my feet and legs massaged and beautified. Shortly after I nearly fell asleep while having my manicure (hey Heather, I used Bubble Bath and thought of you).

I leisurely headed back to the office where I was a little early and was able to endulge myself in a little more reading time. Then the group came out of the conference room and we asked our new favorite tour guide (Lillian, the principal) where we should eat and she suggested a place in Little Italy.

We dropped our bags off at our rooms in Hotel Rex a very small and cozy place decorated in the style of the 20's chalk full of art-deco drawings of naked women everywhere. Ten minutes later we all met up in the lobby to begin yet another expedition by foot to Little Italy. We got lost

In Chinatown. It reminded me so much of Honolulu.

They were filming a movie of some sorts. I was rather put out that we couldn't hang around and possibly be discovered and earn so much money from one 3 second shot that we could pay off all of Todd's student loans. But the rest of the group couldn't understand where I was coming from.

Thank heaven for cell phones (Jake used his, might I remind you that we don't have one and I haven't really missed it until this trip when I wanted to call my kids at the drop of a hat). Jake called information who then called the restaurant who then gave us directions and we got to Rose Pistola right as they were seating people for dinner.

This picture was taken once we had gotten our bearings and were heading in the right direction to the restaurant. We had made it to Little Italy.

I had an absolutely divine salad with freshly sliced parmesan on top and the lightest vinaigrette. Then they placed the fish I ordered in front of me....head, eyes and all. The waiter offered to de-bone it for me, and I, of course, excepted. I couldn't imagine eating a fish that was watching me devour him. It would be like raising a chicken giving him a name only to slaughter him for a Sunday dinner. Here is the action on the be-heading of my fish:


Everyone else at the table ordered some kind of alcoholic drink, Todd and I just ordered water...but the waitress offered to mix up a virgin pomegranate lemon concoction that was fabulous. I felt all cosmopolitan drinking something from a martini glass.

After the walk home, we were all so very exhausted that no more sight seeing was planned. I told Todd not to wake me up in the morning, as I was going to soak in every minute of solitude this trip was going to offer. And we watched TV (another form of electronic equipment we don't have..okay we have a TV just no cable or basic channels or such) till we realized what we haven't been missing and crashed to a full night of sleep with no children to wake up and tend to.

Make-Shift Chandelier

I know it's been a whole week. But I was in San Francisco for 5 days and now I am back into full-swing re-potty training Connor and Abigail. I can't let them out of my sight for a moment, or the accidents just so happen at that time. I have a headache.

But I thought I would give you something short and sweet to consider doing yourself until I can post the travelogue of San Francisco.

I had seen here a fantastic beaded chandelier of sorts and thought it was something I might be able to fenagle myself for Abi's bedroom. So, I took some spare change I had been saving and hit all the 50% off stuff I could at Hobby Lobby to make this little wonder. This is what I came home with:

While the children napped, I turned on Jane Eyre and dismantled the picks, attached them to the embroidery hoop, finished the top off with some white satin ribbon. Then I finagled the contraption around Abi's already dainty light fixture, and here is the end result:

Yes, I know it somewhat resembles a jellyfish, but that just adds to the tropical flair that is already going on in there.

And, what tropical jungle isn't complete without a little leopard print? I found this fabric for $3 a yard and added it to the back of the already made panel and added a 1 inch border to add just a little more sassifrassiness to the window treatment.


Decorating on a shoe-string budget has proven to be rather fun, as I just add to each room as I can and the transformations are coming along. I like walking into the room and seeing something new every so often. It just freshens it up a bit and allows my creative juices to keep flowing.

I mean, honestly, what fun would it be if you were just able to walk into a home and decorate it exactly how you want it within the first month of being there. BORING. I like the changes (did I mention that we moved the baby grand again? Scroll down to the next post...it isn't in that corner anymore, it is on the right side of the fireplace).

A Splash of Color

I have been scrimping and saving every penny I find. I even did a long survey by mail and got paid $30 for it. So with all that money I have been saving, I was able to purchase a few small items that have added a dose of color to my rather drab and monochromatic living room.

The curtains were a killer deal...the gimping was only $1 a yard and I was able to get almost 3 yards of the rust fabric for $6!!!! With the help of my mother's sewing machine, I whipped up these panels and valances in an afternoon. Of course, I am not in love with the tassels....the scale of them is way too small (they were $1 a piece) so now it is time to scrimp and save up for tassles of a larger scale. Thankfully my go-to-home fabric store always has great tassles at an incredible price.



The next splash of color was to those sad urns with grasses in them. Tai Pan had their tent sale and these flowers were tucked neatly into a basket calling out my name. I think they are just what those little urns needed. They gave the room another touch of sophistication wonderfully, I think.


What I am loving the most is that the rusty color is only dished out in small doses and doesn't overwhelm. And that those doses are spread out in the room in such a way as to keep your eye flowing from one spot of rust to the next.

I'm Smitten

Please read this with a beautiful British accent...it will help with the romanticism I am feeling in the air due to my most recent read.

For our bookclub this month we are reading "Jane Eyre." The first few chapters had me sinking into deep despair thinking "No more depressing books. This has got to get better." Angie, my kind friend and cousin to my husband, assured my that it would, in time, improve, so a few more chapters into it, I wasn't let down and I couldn't stop turning the pages (of course, in between changing diapers, fixing meals, kissing boo-boos and separating fighting children I had to put it down. That sentence should have been in boring Utahnish. From now on, anything in italics is in Utahnish...I can't say English, because sometime English sounds British and Utahnish is DEFINITELY it's own dialect...but wouldn't it make more sense for the italics to be the romantic language and the normal boring font be the normal boring language that comes spewing from my mouth...or fingers?).

It is rather embarrassing to admit that in my nearly twenty and nine years of life, I have read so few "classics." I don't recall having been required upon to read this particular novel or many others while pursuing my early education. Let's face it, school is pretty much something I suppressed (I wasn't much of a scholar)...or I could have easily forgotten those years while focusing on other pursuits i.e. marriage at 18, moving to Hawaii, going back to college, birthing children.

Back to Jane Eyre; I have absolutely adored it. With that love comes a need to educate myself and delve deeper into the history behind the story. Why did I not have this kind of thirst for knowledge when I was actually IN school?

I have spent countless hours on Wikipedia reading up about Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, Period Pieces, and even gone to YouTube and watched the BBC version of the book.

It's now officially an obsession. I have a list of about thirty and four other books written in about the same period by similar authors and I can't wait to delve into them...alas (see....the words have now become a part of my vocabulary) I have no motor coach to get me to the library, so I have chosen a more modern route.

The World Wide Web.

Here is how it is all going down:

Going down my lengthy list...first I read about it on Wikipedia and see if there is a form of the book on-line in PDF. Reading for such great lengths has proven to give me a headache (or was it the kids bickering?) and I had to resort to this:

I go to YouTube and see if there is a video to go along with the book. I always lean towards the lengthier BBC versions as there is just something special about the accents, actors/actresses and knowing that with greater length, the storyline will (hopefully) be preserved.

What have I seen thus far, you ask? "Pride & Prejudice," (of course, I own the A&E version and watch it whenever I have a project, such as sewing or card making at hand...you will soon see some of the projects I have been able to complete during these times) "Wives & Daughters," "Emma," & "Mansfield Park."

I can't bring myself to read on-line anymore. There is nothing like cuddling up on the couch in this rainy weather and reading a real book. But I don't own any classics. Anything on financial freedom or becoming a wise business person...we got. Maybe I DO need to read those books. Woe is me.

Ha-zah! My adoring sister came to my rescue but not yesterday(I say that because our internet connection here is very fickle and I don't always get to watch a whole show in a day....also due to other interruptions of a childlike nature). She brought over a book she had recently finished called "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." This book first came to my attention at Book Club, my mother-in-law had given that as one of our suggestions and I think I will echo her opinion and suggest if to be read next month.

Never have I laughed out loud so much while reading a book. There is such quick wit and fantastic humor written, despite it being about WWII. I have loved so many lines from the book, but one that struck me the most was this:

"Men are more interesting in books than they are in real life."

This line, of course, is a favorite of mine and one I think I shall cherish forever. Especially considering the quarrel that Todd and I had last night. A true lady would never devulge the following or even admit to a lovers spat, but I am not a true lady...yet. Maybe if I read enough books I will become one. I spent more money than we had budgeted on groceries all because I was dumb and couldn't figure out how to read the labels properly in order to use my coupons and then out of embarrassment due to the number of people behind my in the check-out line and not wanting to have to dig through all of my bags to return items, I kept them at their full price.

You see, surrounding myself with such fictionally perfect male characters has marred my image of my one true and eternal companion. That is so unfair to him, I know. He has so many admirable qualities that endear me to him. Accepting that he is "real life" and other women (although too fictional) feel the same way as I, made me feel justified and sorry for Todd. I wonder if Facebook has a quiz to inform you as to your male companions match for a period novel? Sometimes I wonder if he would be a Mr. Knightly from Emma. Not afraid to put me in my place and remind me when I am stupid....but loves me through it all. Of course, Todd is much more handsome than either of the men that have played Mr. Knightly in either versions of Emma I have seen.

Anyway, I realize also by reading all of these books, that I could in turn change some of my habits by becoming more patient, learning to speak more softly, taking the time to examine the true character of a person before judging (or expecting too much of) them.

That's that then. It is time for me to become a woman of integrity, virtue, modesty and every other quality that women from that era possessed. Most of them also had housemaids, no computer to distract them (or aid them), no television to watch, spent their days sewing, going for walks, reading, playing the piano, painting, singing and sitting in quiet moments of reflection.

I have so much to improve upon.

To Wait...

...Or Not To Wait?

That is my question.

So, I have hesitated showing you any of the rooms that I have working on, because they aren't "complete." But, if I wait to show you a picture of the kids rooms until they are "complete," it may never happen.

Connor's bedroom has planets and an astronaut and some comets, but I still need to put up the great big sun on his ceiling, put the planets names next to them (even though Connor has already memorized each planet despite having their names by them) and touch-up the stripes on the wal. The glow-in-the dark stars will be put up once the sun is in place. His bed has been stained (LOVE IT) and he is happy to have Jimmy Neutron as his companion each night. It was his request to have a "Jimmy Neutron" room, and I gave in to his commercial request by letting him have a little picture of him on the wall by his bed (where conveniently his pillows cover up good ole Jimmy during the day). Here is a small taste of what has been going on in Connor's room:

These planets seem small, but only because they are to scale...you should see Jupiter and Saturn.

I am going to paint one of those "umbilical cord" things from the Astronaut to the Space Shuttle.

Connor with his bunk-mate, Jimmy

11 Years

This picture was taken by our favorite photographer, Connor. He is now available for your special portraits.
Todd and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary on Saturday!

I had schemed and planned a night without any children on Friday, and it all worked wonderfully!

My sister stayed home with the kids, while I met Todd at the Library for what he thought was just dinner and a movie. But he was sure surprised after asking me "what time we needed to be home" when I told him that Suzy wasn't expecting us until the next morning!

We spent the evening at the Gateway, where Todd spoiled me with some "un-mommy-like" clothes...no, I don't mean a negligee. I mean some cute shirts, pants, capri's, a skirt and some super sassy 4" heels. We bought a needy man dinner (he had been mugged the night before and had no money or i.d. or anything of the matter) and then watched a movie that neither of us really enjoyed. Todd is going to be getting a weed whacker from me. We are hopeless romantics.

A full nights rest...no sharing the bed with another child, waking up when I wanted to. It was lovely. Then we dined on crepes for breakfast before heading home to our beautiful little children and the super-star babysitter that is my sister.

What might you not know about Todd and I? Here's some interesting tid-bits:

-Although I spent some of my teen years tending Todd's youngest brother and sister, Todd and I never exchanged words...or glances for that matter.

-Todd did not believe me when I first told him I was aspiring to become an Interior Designer...he thought I was saying that just because he was studying to become an Architect and it meant we had something in common.

-While we were both attending SLCC, we took a ballroom dance class together. He got the highest A in the class...but did not take the final test dancing with me. As it turns out, I try to take the lead too often and it didn't fair well with him.

-When first married, most dates nights involved walking around Lowe's and pricing out the many projects we had planned for our first home.

-We had high hopes for a large family. They have since been dashed....thanks to a heavy dose of reality.

-Through the many experiences we have had, we no longer make "plans for the future." They never turn out the way you think they will. We have learned to live in the now, and that plan seems to be working quite well for us.