Baby K is Oaklandish

I love getting emails of pictures of Baby K. Especially when he is in an outfit I sent. Technically Baby K is a Virginian but his parents met in Oakland so I consider him an Oaklandish Baby.

Recently he made the trip out West with his Mama and I was able to cuddle and coo all over him. He is such a handsome boy. I am soooo lucky to have had the experience to whisper in his ear that I am his favorite Aunt.

Stepped out for a Moment

I have been away from this little spot because these three came  to visit me. 

It's been fun and crazy busy, we have seen a lot!

I will update soon once I make room on my computer for the ridiculous amount of photos I managed to take this week.

Downtown in Oaktown

I LOVE living in Oakland, I know I say that a lot but I do, I really, really do. A few weeks back the ever so talented Marielle and the ever so fabulous A-Gril and I went downtown to get a few shots of our city. I managed to take a lot of photos of course and have posted a few below.

This was a couple of days after the riot.

I have plenty more to post at a later time. This new format is giving me fits and it is well past my bed time.

Mumford & Sons - Winter Winds

I can't get enough of Mumford & Sons. These Brits know how to make me happy. However you want to classify their music, Folk-Rock, Stomp-n-kick, Country (nah), I don't care. I call it amazingly danceable, sing-along, good time music.

I admit I can be a bit of a snob when it comes to choosing what to listen to and why I must listen to it. This is not snobby music at all, maybe I am changing my ways as I get older.

Now go out and but this album pronto and enjoy!

Stanford Memorial Chapel

On a lovely spring night I drove down to the Stanford Campus to hear the University of Michigan Mens Glee Club perform. The performance was in the Stanford Memorial Chapel.

It was a fabulous night spent with good friends, amazing music in a gorgeous setting. (My pictures don't do it justice).

The Mynabirds-Numbers Don't Lie

I am currently in LOVE with The Mynabirds. Check them out they are so danceable, sing-alongable and what ever 'able you can think of.

I heart Laura Burhenn's voice and am estatic that she has started her own thing. She used to be part of Georgie James, and sad as I was when they dispersed, I am happy The Mynabirds came out of that breakup.

Listen and enjoy. (Oh and if you haven't checked out Georgie James...DO IT!)

Flower of Riches and Honor

I have 4 favorite types of flowers and the top two are the Peony and Dahlia.

It is Peony season right now and I can't get enough of them. Every time I am at the store I buy a bunch, only because the season will soon end and I will have to impatiently wait until next year.

One day when I have a little plot of land, I will fill it with Peony plants and I won't have to pay to soak in their gorgeous blooms. For now however I will continue to treat myself to one of the most beautiful flowers ever created.

The pictures below are of my first bouquet, since then I have gazed upon raspberry reds, pale pinks and whites. I am hoping to find that elusive yellow.

This was my view one Saturday morning and it was lovely to wake up to.

Don't let the season pass without buying a bunch for yourselves, I promise it will make your heart very happy.

A-Grils Wicked Graduation

A-Gril graduated with a Masters in Library and Information Science one month ago. HUZZAH!

I was only able to get these lousy photos before my camera died, yeah I keep them as proof I was invited.

Any who the title is not to say that the Graduation was wicked in any way as in evil, awesome, cool and so on. I will get to the wicked part later. It was a rather tame affair and the only thing close to being "wicked" about it was some one's last name was Poo, yeah more unfortunate than "wicked".

A-Gril worked hard to get this Masters and I am sure it is a big relief to have accomplished it. Now I actually get to see her in the living room, instead of sitting at her desk, crazy.

That night A-Gril's parents bought tickets to see the play Wicked (hence the wicked reference). I had been not so excited to see it only because I read the book and couldn't see how it was turned into a very popular musical with happy sing along songs. Maybe I should have been curious instead of a cynic, but then again why change my cynical ways...wink.

I met everyone in the city at Max's Opera Cafe where we ate huge amounts of food to warm us up for the walk down to the theatre. It was windy and freezing. The play was better than I expected. It was different than the book in that they focused more on the friendship than all of the other political, violence and ahem stuff. (I'm not a prude, little ones read this).

I liked it and now here is where I am sure all of my friends may go postal on me, but I didn't love it. I am not going to own the soundtrack, or buy T-shirts or see it 5 more times. The good thing is I didn't hate it.

Anyway Yippee for a fun filled Saturday, celebrating A-Gril and her massive accomplishment. Now if she can get a job she likes, hopefully in the area, but it's OK if it isn't too. (I'm not holding her back, just to keep an awesome room mate)

Northern California

As I was sitting this evening on a beach, not unlike this one, I was pondering how lucky I am to live in such a magnificent place. Yeah so I have to deal with traffic, noisy neighbors, super high rents, etc. But it offers spectacular views, amazing food, shopping to die for, fabulous adventures around every corner, plus lifelong friendships and the opportunity to continually meet new friends. I have lived in many amazing places and will possibly adventure onto another one day, for now however I choose to stay and soak up all the Bay Area has to offer, whether good or bad.

I have been neglectful of this space. May was particularly busy and I will soon update with minute goings on that may only matter to myself.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game Again and Again and Again

One early Saturday Morning about a month ago I received a phone call from AC (pictured above) inviting me to watch her softball game. Of course I wanted to see her play, I adore her, however she only gave me less than an hour to get ready. Little did I know that this would be the beginning of a 3 game day.

AC is an a amazing pitcher, she is really competitive and prefers a challenge i.e. bases loaded. That is when she really shines and manages to not let any runs after that. It is fun to watch.

Her team won of course and I am glad she invited me.

During AC's game her youngest brother CC was fooling around and managed to get himself stuck in a rolled up mat. It was hilarious! Poor kid was being sucked in by the mat and his Dad and I were concerned with getting a picture first. Those of you who know CC, know he was not at all happy about this, which made it even more funny. Don't worry we pulled him out eventually.

AC's older Sister KC then invited me to come back to her game that afternoon. I just had to see her play too. When I arrived her team was getting clobbered. The other team was huge, dangerous and really good. KC ended up getting the only run for her team, GO KC!

After KC's game I ran home to grab a few things and was off to the Giants game. Now for a person who really doesn't like baseball I manage to get to at least one Giants game a year. My company has decent seats so I can't turn down free tickets. So off trekked A-Gril and the Campbells (yes we snuck Thad in, he looked under two). We had so much fun and surprisingly the game kept my attention.

The tickets may have been free but the food was $$, that's what you get when you decide you want clam chowder in a bread bowl. Yummy but not necessarily ball park food.

The sky was an amazing indigo that night and it was a warmish night which made the game so much better.

Considering I went to 3 games in one day should cover me for a year, but there is an A's game I will be going to. Hey maybe just maybe I will start to appreciate the game... and then again maybe not, who knows.

All Aboard

On a sunny Saturday a few weeks back, a group of us made the drive up to Suisun City to visit the Western Railway Museum. It was a lovely day spent eating cookies, sipping lemonade, having a picnic and enjoying the company of friends.

I was amused that the two train cars that our group was on were named Salt Lake & Utah and the 2nd class (the party car) was Oakland Antioch. (Amusing only due to the fact that all of us live in Oakland and most of us have lived in Utah).

Of course I was picture happy... so enjoy

Party Car