Anniversaries & Memorial days...

I'm happy to report that I had a pleasant holiday weekend, although I am still very tired from it all. And this week at work has just been totally insane, so I'm really ready for the weekend already, even though it's a short week! :)

Yesterday was our 2-year anniversary. Can't believe it hasn't been more than that! Honestly, we both feel like we've been together for much longer. Maybe because at this point we act like an old married couple (just substitute the dog for the child!). But I gotta love a man who knows how to deal with my every mood. Plus, he cooks like a pro - have to keep that around! :)

So I put this together to celebrate, somewhat (just click to see the full-sized version):

Have to give props to my girl Anna Aspnes, since I used her awesome gradient brushes to make that! I'm so addicted to them now - they make it so easy to use multiple photos in a layout without making it feel overcrowded! And thought I'd show this scrap page off too, even though I did it back in January:

You can view credits for it here.

We went to the always amazing Five Crowns last night for dinner, and yet again it did not disappoint. Seriously, if you live in Orange County and have not been there yet, GO! It's worth every penny. Chris and I splurged and ordered a full three course meal, plus martinis, and pretty much had to hobble out there, we were so full. I got the lobster tails, and he got the surf 'n turf. Soooo good. And it was perfect service, as per usual, and not too loud. Plus we didn't have to wait at all for our table - which I'm even more thankful for, since it seems that fewer and fewer restaurants understand the concept of "reservation". But anyways, two hours later we finally headed home to top off the night with some champagne and cuddle time (with the puppy included, of course).

And as for the long weekend, it was great. I think I pretty much squeezed the most out of it that I could! Saturday went and got a haircut, and after some errands came home to clean for a small dinner party we had planned. I think Chris outdid himself this time - he made steaks with his yummy cream and red wine sauce, golden carrot coins (SO yummy - gotta love Alton Brown's recipes!), roasted red potatoes and asparagus. Mmmmm!!! Plus we threw in salad and bread rolls. We just had a few people over, but they hadn't met each other before so it made for some great conversation. Chris and I had also bought a long fold-up table with just such an event in mind, so we could eat out on the patio and also fit everybody at one table, since our vintage dinette doesn't exactly provide for large groups. :) It was a great night though, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

On Sunday I had to drag my butt out of bed and get ready to go down to my uncle's house in San Diego. My parents and I had made plans to go down for the night and hang out with everyone - my uncle had his girlfriend and some friends over, and my cousin Sarah came over as well. His girlfriend's daughter also wound up coming by later that night with her boyfriend. I wound up taking a ton of photos, since my dad brought his new toy - a Nikon D40. Gotta love digital SLRs! I so want one...maybe if I get a raise. Someday.

But it turned out to be a really fun two days! I brought the puppy with me, in the hopes that he would make friends with Sarah's dog, Taj.
Isn't he a cutie? He's mostly Doberman, mixed with something that I can't remember at the moment. Turns out my guess that they would get along famously was right! They're both scaredy-cats (crazy for a Doberman, I know, but he is) and mama's boys, and built for running. A perfect match. :)

Here's a shot of the requisite sniffing:
They wound up providing loads of entertainment and laughs for us! I think it was Karl that likened Jacopo to a little kid following around Taj, who was like the cool high schooler, and having to do everything that Taj did. The best part was Jacopo got a great workout and slept like a rock once he finally settled down that night and Monday night too. :)


We had a perfect summer barbeque in the backyard with big hamburgers and stuff for dinner, and enjoyed the view:

That's my uncle and his girlfriend, Donna, along with Mike and Leslie, who were joking about how they could see their house from there (with a little help from the binoculars).

While we were there, Jacopo discovered that he loved stairs (we don't have any at home), and you could hear him enjoying them many times over in the 2 days we were there!

I don't know how that little pup manages to sound like an elephant when he runs, but he does. And then when he and Taj played on them together....you could hear it from all over the house. At least we could keep tabs on them! :) I think he was also a big fan of the landing because he could see all that was going on.

That night we pretty much just hung out, ate, drank and talked. I have to share this photo of Sarah, 'cuz she's perty and her hair is sooo long right now!

I'm pretty sure she was telling a wicked story when this was taken. ;-)

So I wound up sleeping on the couch instead of in one of the guestrooms with Sarah, since Jacopo continued to try and bait Taj into playing with him even after we turned out the lights and had settled down. I guess he's just not used to having a playmate around for that long! But I couldn't believe that he still had the energy. Although he did settle down as soon as we curled up on the couch together.

Monday was another casual hangout day, and we all decided to go on a walk with the puppies. Especially since it was such gorgeous weather you really just had to be outside. Thank Thor for national holidays! :) So dad took some great photos along the way...














Then when we got back Karl and Donna raced back and put up this sign on the door before we got there:
What a punk! While Karl and Donna went to work barbequing dinner, the rest of us mainly hung out. I'll spare you the gratuitous puppy photos, but I can't help but share this one:

Yup, that's Jacopo sleeping with his nose tucked in between Sarah's feet. What a goofball! It's like a security blanket for him, he loves to have his nose tucked away when he sleeps.

As one last photospam, there's this one:

Gotta love the way Sarah hugs Taj! I imagine with such a huge dog there can only be a few ways! :)

That's all for now - this weekend I'm heading up to Pasadena to tour Castle Green, which I'm sure I'll have a ton of photos from! Hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday weekend!

~T

Quote of the moment: "Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." ~Robert Frost