Mid-March

In between the bachelorette parties and Stephen and Elise's wedding in Louisiana, I got to spend time with my family. First, they came to visit me. Mom Dena, Jayde, Ryan, Jordan, and his friend Dillion all came to watch Jordan's first concert: Killswitch Engage.
I'll admit that it is a little heavier than most of the music I listen to, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Jordan, Dillon, Ryan, and I rocked out until the last encore. Mom and Jayde made it out of melee sooner.

Jayde and Ryan hung out for a couple of days so Jayde and I, of couse, shopped while Rod introduced Ryan to Utah's great ski terrain (too bad the snow was less than optimal).

Rumba and I rode back to Idaho with Jayde and Ryan so that I could stay with my Grandma and take care of my Grandpa while he recovered from his knee surgery. It was a little scary at first. Grandpa did not recover as quickly as the doctor had predicted. His pain meds freaked him out. The whole family pitched in to take care of Grandpa though. Grandma and I had a good time spending time together. Even Rumba did her part to cheer Grandpa up. My mom showed up near the end of the week. It was nice getting to spend some time with her too while we both took care of Grandma and Grandpa. We spent a brief time babysitting cute little Zach. He sure makes Grandma happy.
Ron and Trina also surprised us by showing up in Utah. Grandpa finally came home on Saturday, five days after he was supposed to. Mom stayed for another week to take care of him while I headed to Louisiana for the wedding.

We also managed to cram in a day of skiing at Deer Valley (Rod's first time) with Cynthia and Cristina, lots of lunches, and Our Town at the PTC before heading to Louisiana for the wedding festivities. I hate to admit it because it is so over-the-top luxurious (and expensive--thanks Cynthia for hooking us up with freebies!), but I LOVE Deer Valley. The turkey chilli alone makes it worth it. It was funny too thinking about my experience at DV last year. It was the first time I ever skied a blue. And I was scared to death. :) This year, I mostly skiied blues and even threw in a couple of blacks. I wish that this season had been better.

Napa in March

Our March was so jam-packed, it's going to take me more than a few posts to write about everything. The first weekend was the long-awaited bachelorette party for Mindy and bachelor party for Stephen. No, Mindy and Stephen are not getting married. :) Mindy is my best friend from high school and Stephen is Rod's brother. Also, their bachelor(ette) parties were in completely different cities. For Stephen's, Rod went to Las Vegas. Rod didn't take any pictures or tell too many stories. I did get some interesting, cryptic text messages, though. I guess what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. :)

For Min, we had a girl's weekend in Napa. We started, with a highlights tour of San Francisco: Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, Lombard Street, shopping in Union Square, and getting crazy in the Castro district. Other than getting lost (several times) trying to find our way to Napa--seriously, we crossed the Bay Bridge three times--it was a perfect day. We had great pumpkin curry for lunch followed by a banana split at Ghiradelli Square. Mindy bought her wedding dress at the first store we walked into at Union Square (it was fate). I was so happy that I could be there for this special moment. We had an okay sushi for dinner at a cute restaurant near the Castro district. The menu was great, but to be honest, I was disappointed that the fish was not better. Shouldn't California sushi be better than Utah sushi?

The Castro was just as fun as I remembered it. We started at the Blackbird. I had to have another Early Bird. We, of course, dressed Min up in embarrassing clothing and made her do embarrassing things. Basically, we asked her to answer a number of questions that we had Aaron answer earlier. If she got the question wrong, she had to roll a set of dice that had various funny things for her to do like "do shots with a geeky guy." Min did poorly enough at answering questions that we made a lot of new friends and got some free drinks. After the Blackbird, we stopped at Hot Kiss for some erotic macaroons. It was well past midnight when we made it to our cottage in Napa Valley.

The next morning, we made a quick trip to the grocery store to stock up on good food for the weekend. Min and I went for a run on the path near our cottage. We spent the rest of the day at a spa in Calistoga. After our mud bath and cleansing masks, we swam in the mineral pool. Then we wandered around Calistoga, perusing the really adorable consignment shops. At the cottage, after making roasted red pepper and pear soup, chicken and grape skewers, wild rice, and gorging ourselves on cheese and wine, we all passed out in the front room watching "The Hangover". We woke up halfway through the movie and spent the next hour or so reminiscing and sharing our secrets.

The next day was our wine tour. We started at a small winery with really good wine, but a racist, ignorant owner. If he had just shut his mouth, we probably would have purchased several bottles of wine. Instead, we left pissed. We had better luck at the next winery: V. Sattui. Not only, was the wine and service great, but there was an attached gourmet deli/store that sold and sampled cheeses, chocolates, and pates. It also had a beautiful garden where we picnicked.

So that we could keep going, we went to Fairfield to tour the Jelly Belly factory. It was fun to see how the Jelly Bellys are made and to sample as many as we wanted. I went crazy in the store, buying Belly Flops and beans for every one back home.

We only had time for one more winery. This one was further outside of Napa on top of a beautiful mountain. The wine was tasty, and we enjoyed seeing the barrel room.

Unfortunately, we did not make it in time to see the attached art museum. By the time we made it back to Napa, we were starving. We stopped at Trader Joes to buy Port and curry powder, but we ended up getting cheesecake, more cheese, and some other goodies too. Back at the cottage, we made chicken curry and cheesecake with a port reduction. Then, in a moment of nostalgic craziness, we snuck into the hot tub at the clubhouse and spent the rest of the night planning the rest of our lives.

After checking out the next morning, we headed back to San Francisco. We didn't have a whole lot of time so we just wandered around North Hill and China Town.
We had Thai again. It was sad to say goodbye. But we all agreed a girls trip is something we need to make an annual thing.

So . . . February

Between my Hunger Games and Under the Dome hibernation and our multiple out of town trips, February was a bit of a blur. Here are the parts I remember . . .

We spent the first weekend in Idaho visiting family. Although most of our time was spent with Grandma and Grandpa Ellis, we did spend some time at the arcade with Jordan, Mom, and Grandpa Reeder. We headed home on Sunday in time for two superbowl parties at Jeff Hunt's and at Phil and Tara's. Sorry no photos.

We had a very romantic V-day . . . in New Orleans . . . for Mardi Gras. Ha! There was a lot more nudity than I signed up for. Don't get me wrong. I have heard enough stories about Mardi Gras to know that there would be plenty of upper body nudity. It was the lower body (FEMALE!) nudity I was unprepared for. Icky. The Hand Grenades made it better. I got a grocery sack full of (unearned) beads at the Endymion parade. Before we went to the parade, I kept hearing stories about da' balloons and how you have to step on them first if you don't want to get stepped on while you are reaching for them. I was so confused about (1) how people on the float threw balloons to the parade viewers and (2) how you could step on the balloons without popping them. It wasn't until the parade was almost over that I realized that "da' balloons" are actually "doubloons," treasure-island coinlike tokens.

The next weekend was a bookclub for my newest addiction, The Hunger Games. It is a story about a futuristic post-war United States, where, instead of states, the country is divided into districts. Every year there is a lottery and two children are chosen from each district to fight to the death. It is a three-part series. I devoured the first two books and have already pre-ordered the third from Amazon. It comes out in August. We made lamb stew, which plays a prominent part in the book, and poached pears.

The next night was a dinner at the Citris Grill with our friends from work who happen to be going to school with the husband of someone I went to high school with. Small world. That Sunday, we made dinner--roast pork, roasted vegetable, and creme brulee--for Steve, Kathy, Guy, and Janet. Steve is one of my favorite people to work with. He always has great stories and his wife Kathy is so nice. Guy and Janet are a couple who work together to manage my office. I have always really liked them, but we have gotten especially close over the last year. They love Rumba as much as we do. They watch her for us occasionally. Guy retired in March. And the office hasn't been the same without him. It was really fun to have them all over.

We spent the last weekend of March in Eden, skiing with our friends. We took advantage of a killer deal at Wolf Creek lodge to organize a mini ski vacation. We spent Saturday at Powder Mountain followed by getting awesome burgers at the Shooting Star. I've blogged about the Shooting Star before. It is one of the oldest bars in Utah and has such a fun atmosphere. The next day, we went to Snow Basin. It was a beautiful bluebird day, but the snow could have been better.

At some point in February, my good friend Sarah came to town. We celebrated by doing a number of things that I do not normally do on a school night . . . or ever . . . like going to Park City . . . for karaoke . . . with a band. I don't do karaoke. I can't carry a tune. But we were challenged by a group of guys to a karaoke off so everyone had to take a turn. Sarah rocked the house. I heard she has been practicing. :) Nici and Mellie sang "Smells like Teen Spirit", and Ally and I rocked it to the only song I know where carrying a tune is not a necessary, "You Gotta Fight (for your right to Par-tay." I'll admit that karaoking to a band is a different experience. Nici and I also got roped into a game of darts, which I suck at. At least we met some nice people. After moving the party to Ciseros and shutting down the bar, we headed to the "Sev" for taquitos and donuts. Utah has not been the same without Sarah!
Twelve Angry Men also played at the PTC this month. The acting was great, but I spent half the show thinking "you can't do that". It was also a frustrating glimpse at the unpredictable jury system. I think that is everything . . . .