Weekends: First Fog

Get ready, this is a long one! This weekend included 3 days, 7 waterfalls, 20 miles of hiking, 1 amazing secret lodge discovery. 

The start of summer in San Francisco is bittersweet. Warmer temperatures inland pull the marine layer over the city.  Heavy fog last week announced the summer season and left the city freezing in the mid-50s. Time to get out of town!  Nicole, Rob and I packed up the car and headed for the hills on Friday night. We slept in Sonora, and left early when we realized the town would be shut down for the annual Mother Lode Round-up parade and rodeo. Drove down the main street packed with show horses and kids in sequined suspenders on our way out Saturday morning.  

On a whim, we drove out to Hetch Hetchy.  The "lost Yosemite" this valley was turned into a damn in the 1920's to supply water to San Francisco.  The delicious, unfiltered water is delivered to the city through 160 miles of pipes.  And it's beautiful!

We hiked out to Wapama Falls through lovely wildflower meadows filled with butterflies.

We were headed another three miles in to Rancheria Falls...when we crossed paths with a bear!  Nicole spotted the teenage black bear crossing the trail when we were only about 15 feet away. When we backed up, he wasn't bothered at all and climbed up on a boulder to sleep:

Other hikers passed through, but we didn't chance it.  Picnic and naps on the granite apron. On the way back, Rob filled our bottle from the falls - and got soaking wet in the process.

Great 6 miles of hiking!

Rob decided to ride his bike out of the valley. Nicole and I drove out and stopped for a drink and watercolor painting at a lodge we spotted on the way in. Evergreen Lodge turned out to be an amazing find!  We booked a tent as soon as Rob arrived and spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the grounds. Rob and I took a nap in a hammock, ran the nature trail and joined Nicole at the brand new pool complete with full bar. We had lemonade shandies with local IPA:

Cleaned up for the evening and enjoyed making free s'mores with the kids at the lodge:

Ping pong before dinner at the hotel restaurant. Love it!

Big meal with blackberry margaritas before turning in to our massive and well-outfitted tent for an early night. I would love to come back to this lodge!

In the morning, we motivated early and drove a few miles over to check out the swimming hole at Carlon Falls. We ran the 1.5 miles in as part of my 5k training - painful. 

The creek was running too fast and too cold for much swimming, but so pretty! I was brave enough to wade in up to the top of my legs.

From there, we drove in to Yosemite Valley - full of blooming dogwoods and heavy running waterfalls.  Picnic lunch along the river:

For a "light" afternoon hike, we headed up Vernal Falls to Nevada Falls - a 6 mile, 2,000 foot climb on steep granite stairs. Great view from the top.

We got soaking wet in the mist both on the way up and down.

Completely exhausted by the time we made it back to our tent at Housekeeping. Rob played chef to make macaroni and cheese with broccoli followed by chicken soup.

We helped our french neighbors light their campfire then crashed into our bunks very early with weary legs.

Donuts and tea in the morning before packing up. We hiked a short path up to Bridalveil Falls and then explored El Cap meadow.  Rob and I stopped here on our very first camping trip back in 2002, when he was a big rock climber. Slept illegally on a bouldering pad in the middle of the long grass (too poor to pay for a campsite) under a full moon with bears splashing in the nearby river. A great memory!

Quick drive back to the city. I quickly showered and dressed up for an important candidate interview at work in the afternoon. Returned home and relaxed for the rest of my day off!

Recipe: Shrimp Ceviche

Mmm. I love ceviche so much. Somehow - despite eating pounds and pounds of the stuff in Mexican sidewalk cafes and shady San Francisco taquerias - I had never made it myself.  That was until last night!

Rob and I exercise on Monday nights ("monday run-day") so I needed something we could prepare pre-run to eat after the run.  This was perfect and so, so easy. If you can make salsa, you can make ceviche.

Shrimp Ceviche
Serves 4 

2 lbs of raw shrimp (I used frozen, medium, with tail on)
2 ripe tomatoes
1/4 white onion
1 fresh jalapeno
4 limes
1 avocado
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt, pepper, chili powder
Corn chips or tostada shells

Thaw your shrimp, if frozen. Pull off the tails and chop into skittle-sized pieces.  Chop the tomato and onion. Finely mince the jalapeno - gauge the amount based on your level of spiciness desired (we used 3/4 of a pepper, no seeds). In a glass or porcelain bowl, combined the raw shrimp and vegetables. Squeeze the juice from 4 limes over the mixture, add the olive oil. Toss.

Let the mixture chill for at least an hour. You'll see that the shrimp has "cooked" from the lime juice when you're ready to eat. Add avocado and cilantro to the mix before serving. It's also authentic with cucumber if you have it.  Season with salt, pepper and chili powder to taste.  

For the authentic presentation, spoon the drained ceviche on a tostada shell.  Or, eat with corn chips like Rob and I did tonight!

Weekends: Around Town

Rob and I started the weekend with a birthday celebration for our dear friend, Allison.  Her husband arranged for us to surprise her at Tradition downtown - where we enjoyed strong batches of "punch" in a private booth. 

From there, the group took private cars over to SOMA Streat Food where we got tickets for the food trucks and free skeeball.  A great night! 

On Saturday morning, Rob left for his usual bike ride and Margaret came over to work on plans for Jackie's July wedding. We worked on the invitation design, bought a veil on Etsy and shopped for vases at the Wholesale Flower Mart:

From there, we drove over the bridge to Ikea for more wedding supplies. I just love it there! Spent time picking out a lamp for myself:

Rob beat me back home, just enough time to clean up before driving to Palo Alto to spend time with the baby and my parents. We were too busy coo-ing over the baby to take photos.

Lazy Sunday morning with the paper and tea in bed. The heatwave that lasted all week finally broke with a rainstorm that morning:

When it started to clear up, Rob and I walked downtown for some clothes shopping before our trip to the UK at the end of the month:

Major cleaning spree when we returned back home. Cleared out the closets, picked up the kitchen and admired the new Ikea lamp assembled in the den. Isn't that a cozy nook!?

Weekends: Whiskeytown

One of the many great things about meeting Rob was that he introduced me to camping! I now love a weekend spent sleeping in a cozy tent, exploring the outdoors and chatting around a fire. 

Rob and I headed up to Whiskeytown this weekend for a mountain bike race and camping trip.  We got in late on Friday night and set up our tent.  Early start on Saturday in order to get geared up for the 9:00 Shasta Lemurian race kickoff.  I spent the morning in the shade catching up on New Yorkers while Rob pedaled in the 90 degree heat.

He finished three hours later covered in a thick layer of mud and dust.  Snuck in this kiss while I was attempting to document the mess!

Yes, you're right that I was fairly overdressed for the Whisketown race crowd.  It's just a cheap maxi dress from Old Navy, sunglasses from Target and a big sun hat...but Rob called it "Emily being Emily."

We sat by the water on one side of the lake and then on the other for the rest of the afternoon. Nice to just rest and too hot to do anything else. In the evening, we caught up with the rest of the riding crew from San Francisco in the campground. Big burger dinner followed by s'mores. Sat around the campfire until about 10:30 and then called it a night.


Slept in until 8:30 on Sunday and joined the crew for breakfast complete with turkey sausage, bacon, french toast, berry compote and scrambled eggs.  Packed up the gear and drove over to Redding to see this adorable baby:

Rob's close-friend Rich lives in Redding with his wife, two boys and adorable 9 month old baby named Jean. We had a fun time hanging out with the kids and eating lunch. Rob raced the boys up and down the road on his mountain bike.

Quick drive back home. I slept through most of it - the heat really wore me out.  Back in the city in time to clean house before Nicole came over. We walked down to the mission for Sunday dinner and ice cream - enjoying the warm night in San Francisco.

Earthquake Memorial Dinner

We had our 7th annual 1906 Earthquake Memorial Dinner last Thursday!  13 guests came over for our traditional candlelit meal.  I set the table with dark napkins, the good silver and so many candles:

The menu was in line with tradition too: Tadich Grill-recipe cioppino full of salmon and shrimp served with plenty of sourdough garlic bread. Followed by strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped cream. It's such an easy meal to prepare. I make the tomato broth  and butter the bread the night before. Before the party, I just had to heat up the broth, add seafood and warm the bread in the oven.

Rob started the party off with a quiz about triage during an emergency. Then we all sat down for dinner and dessert. This is one of my favorite traditions every year!

Weekends: Circle of Life

Well, this was a big one!  We started the weekend with a funeral and ended it with a brand new baby boy.

On Friday morning, I took Jean and Trent to the flower market to buy supplies. Trent's uncle passed away a few months ago and a massive group of people were coming to town to celebrate his life. His aunt asked me to help with the flowers. Jean was really excited to find fiddlehead ferns for sale:

We loaded up the car with flower supplies. I barely fit alongside the baby seat:

The three of us made 12 tabletop arrangements and three very large altar arrangements from blossoming branches, green hydrangea, yellow and white garden roses, young almond branches, white stock and orchids:

Back to work at noon for a busy Friday in the office. Rob and I had pizza delivery for dinner that night.

I spent Saturday morning at the hair salon. It was a gorgeous warm day. Check out this happy city dog I saw on my way out:

Back home to clean house and take occasional breaks to read in the sun on the porch. Rob returned home from a big bike ride and we walked over to Jordan's house. Oops, we thought their housewarming party was on Saturday, but it was actual Sunday. It was fun to catch up for a while on the stoop anyway!

In the afternoon,  Rob and I lazily watched Django Unchained and worked on our taxes (our accountant filed an extension).  We went to bed early with no idea about the 3:30 am text we'd get from Trent and Jean at the hospital. Rob and I dressed quickly and drove down to Palo Alto:

We arrived at Stanford Hospital at 4:30 am and Jean called me into the delivery room at 5:00. I helped with her labor for two hours until baby boy Everett was born weighing in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces and 21 inches. Amazing! She did the whole thing with no meds:

Breakfast together in the maternity ward while the baby was off acing his  first exams.  We had a nice little chat when he arrived back in the room:

Rob and I drove back to Jean and Trent's apartment to take the dogs for a walk and catch an hour of sleep before my parents arrived from San Luis Obispo. Jean got upgraded to a private maternity suite and we had lunch in the cafeteria.

We left them at the hospital to rest in the afternoon and drove back to the city.  Another nap at home (I don't do well with 3:30 wake ups) and a mani-pedi down the street. A busy, happy week ahead!

What to Wear: Black & White for Spring

Inspired by Louis Vuitton's black and white checks for spring, I picked up a mod little black and white dress at Club Monaco a couple weeks ago. It's a super fun piece to wear to the office this April:

Jacket - I'm too chicken to invest in a quality leather jacket. This coral number from Theory breaks the bank, but is so gorgeous!
Dress - Striped jersey dress with an exposed zipper from Club Monaco for $150. The hourglass silhouette adds curves to my stick figure. A much better deal than Louis Vuitton!
Clutch - A foldover basic from Forever21 for $19
Shoes -1960's style low pumps are a lady-like match for work and so much more comfortable than platforms. $60 from DSW.
Glasses - Retro readers.