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We celebrated Don's birthday this week. I made him a cake for his birthday because Don loves sweets. And I love baking. And everyone should have a cake for their birthday - in my opinion. Don loves whipped cream and strawberries so I made Strawberries and Cream Sponge Cake Roll. It is yum-my. You can make this on the fly in less than an hour. Which is exactly what I did in a complete flurry in the kitchen. I believe I even broke a sweat. Who knew cooking could be considered exercise? Don and Elli kept sneaking in the kitchen trying to steal the whipped cream. I wouldn't mind if the kitchen was bigger. But it's the size of a 1/2 bath, so it's kind of annoying. Plus while they are in there they usually decide to do something else like fill the dogs water bowl or just about anything that gets in my way. Anyhow, it was his birthday so I let him slide without my usual scary face/eyes bugging out "get out of my kitchen" look. It's not pretty. Trust me. ...

Elli had her first golf lesson while we were in Tahoe last week. Ok, maybe it wasn't an "official" golf lesson. But she did get some great tips on how to hit her new driver from my brother Bill who is quite the excellent golfer. He can hit the ball really far and with great accuracy with any club. His own clubs got wet and then rusty in his garage and he can still smack the ball three times as far as I do. He picked up Elli's little driver called the Launcher and hit the ball 225 yards! Yowzer. So he was the obvious choice to give her a lesson. Elli is super excited to learn how to play which makes me really happy. It's something we can all do as a family. Plus, knowing how to play golf is an excellent skill to have. She is going to be an excellent business woman someday and taking clients golfing is perfect. And trust me she will have a job in sales. She can pretty much convince anyone to do or buy anything. Just ask Don. Last wee...

Elli has two blankies. We gave her both blankies the minute we adopted her when we were in China. She immediately decided that the blue blanket would be her security blanket. And it quickly became known as Blue Blankie. The other blanket is made by a company called Baby Lulu. So we call that one Lulu. She loves these blankets almost as much as us. They are there for her when she's sad, lonely, happy, scared, stressed out, and tired. They are not allowed out of the house. So they are always there for her when she gets home. Otherwise, she would look like Linus dragging them around everywhere. Mr. Blue has had many surgeries over the years. But now he is beyond repair and she is much more gentle with him. She still finds comfort in him - especially when we're in a strange place. And yes, I'm still talking about a blanket. And even now at 8 years old, she's not big on sharing him with anyone. Even her Mimi and Papa. And yes, all those ratty strings are the ends of poo...

Last Sunday we took Don out for brunch on Father's Day. It was sooooo good! We rarely go out for breakfast or brunch. I think we need to change that. The food was so good. It was a fantastic way to celebrate Father's Day. Ottimista Enotica Cafe on Union Street in San Francisco. Yum Don had THE BEST Bloody Mary ever. I couldn't have one because we were driving to Tahoe. It was peppery with a bit of tang. Perfect. Ell had hot chocolate that was Yum-my and big. And then she had chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries. She was in heaven. Don had Huevos Rancheros. His favorite. I had Eggs Benedict with Meyer Lemon Hollandaise. Oh-so-good! I'm going to try to re-create the hollaindaise sauce. I loved the lemon zing. Elli and her daddy. He's not a fan of getting his picture taken. Especially in restaurants. Sorry honey! Later in the day we met up with MY dad in Tahoe. Here is Elli with Papa, and me. ...

I hope everyone has a fabulous day with their families today. We'll be taking Don to brunch and then spending dinner with my mom and dad. It will be a fabulous day of yummy food and great company! My brother Bill, Elli and her dad, Don. We're starting it off with Blue Bottle Coffee and lemon bread - then it's on to brunch.   It's not to late to bake this yourself (hint, hint.) Read on for the recipe. Lemon Bread (Cake) (from Simply recipes) 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature 1 cup minus 1 Tbsp granulated sugar 1 T. honey 2 eggs (room temp) 1 T. lemon zest 1/2 cup whole milk 1/2 t. salt 1 1/2 cups flour 1/2 t. ground cardamom 1 t. baking powder   Glaze 1/4 cup lemon juice 1/3 cup sugar 1 Tbsp honey Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 4x8-inch loaf pan. 1. Beat the butter until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and honey, continue to beat until creamy, a few minutes more. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after ...

Baking is really relaxing to me. So when I'm totally stressed and need a diversion from life I bake. Today is one of those days. It's Saturday and I shouldn't be stressed. But we had another little financial fiasco this morning and it has my stomach doing flip flops and me in the kitchen baking trying to burn away all my troubles in a 350 degree oven. Since I have a bowl full of lemons and limes I chose to bake Lemon Bread. It's 90 degrees outside and I'm baking. I got a little eye roll from Don. But he knew better than to mess with me today. So all is well. There's something about being in the kitchen, all by myself, measuring ingredients, mixing them up and pouring the batter in the pan that I find very relaxing and soothing. It takes your mind off of things - or at least calms you down for a few minutes. The recipe for the Lemon Bread is from Simply Recipes . I don't make any alterations to the recipe. I like it exactly as Elise Bauer created it. ...

I have a terrible time letting go of stuff. And it's really starting to bug me. The closet in our guest room, where I stash the stuff I don't know what to do with, is busting at the seams. So is the hall closet, and my closet, and the dresser, and my nightstand. And then there's the 48' storage unit we have in Richmond. I just can't seem to let go of this junk. I get really attached to things for some reason and it's really annoying. I want to live in a clutter-free home. I don't want to feel guilty for giving things away that I don't use anymore. And I want to enjoy things given to me - and not feel like I need to save them. The other day I found a three-pack of gourmet mustard in the pantry. I had received it as a gift and was saving it. I finally pulled it out to open it up - and it had expired back in January! What is wrong with me? Why was I waiting for the absolute perfect moment to eat mustard? Last week we got a gift of gourmet olive oil ...

Today is Elli's last day of school. She's really excited for the summer break. I'm less excited. Summer is great as a kid. But as a working parent it's not so much fun. Figuring out the whole camp thing is a royal pain. And figuring out how to pay for it is even more painful. We need about $x,xxx to pay for full-time summer camp. Unfortunately, we don't have that much this year. So we're going to have to be creative. Try explaining to your child why they can't go to camp all summer. It's a tough reality to deal with. But Elli is a trooper. I have three out of the ten weeks planned out. We are going on a family vacation to Tahoe for one week and I have her booked for two weeks of Circus Camp in July. School starts up again August 25th. I have a feeling it's going to be a very long summer unless I win the lottery, get a bonus or find a buried treasure. Elli is trying Circus Camp for the first time. It's in San Francisco and it sounds like a...

Happy Monday! Guess what I did yesterday? I went to a blogging mixer in San Francisco where I got to meet a bunch of nice ladies, ate yummy food, and drank some nice Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. The mixer was organized by two groups that work with bloggers - Blogalicious and Clever Girls Collective. Here are the beautiful, and oh-so-clever, girls! I follow all of these girls on Twitter so it was fun meeting them in person. Pictured left to right, Cat, Sheila, Kristy and Stefania The mixer was held at Le Colonial Restaurant in San Francisco. There were about sixty bloggers in all. Lots of yummy food and drinks. I only dropped two appetizers on the floor. Yes, two. One was the lobster wonton. It slipped right off my napkin and BAM! right on the floor. The other was this. The rice cracker snapped in two and immediately fell right on the floor. Nice. You'll be happy to know I did not spill my drink once. Lucky for me I clicked with two ladies right away. L...

It's here! The 5c wine sale is back. We can all breath a sigh of relief. We no longer have to worry about how in the world we would stock up on wine for the summer. Don't tell me you weren't worried. Don't give me eye roll. I know you better than you know yourself. It may not have been a conscious worry. But it was there in the back of your mind. Right behind figuring out a way to pay for summer camp. So here are Wilfred's top picks for the current 5c wine sale. (For those of you that don't remember, Wilfred is BevMo's Cellarmaster and my friend.) There is a strong showing for white wines this time around. But that makes sense. It is summer after all. Here's a link to his blog post where he talks about each one. And here's the list if you want to start shopping. My advice is to take advantage of the great service on their website. You can place your order on-line and they will have it boxed up and ready for you in 1 hour. You can shop now an...

Just when we thought we were on the home stretch, sliding into summer we get zinged with one more project. All the third grade students were asked to do a project on something important in Marin County. Elli wasn't wigged out by this at all. She knew that we would make sure it got done. Which of course we did. The teachers gave the students a list of ideas. There are amazing things and people to write about here. There is a lot of history in this area because of our location. We are just north of the Golden Gate bridge. Our county is surrounded by water (The San Francisco Bay and Pacific ocean) there are all kinds of things related to water and nature to write about. There are all the amazing sea animals, and world renowned research facilities, Mount Tamalpais, the San Francisco Bay, historical events like the 1906 earthquake, the Miwok indians, and some of the original settlers whom many things are named after in our town, John Muir (Muir Woods), etc. There are endless things t...

Elli's dance recital was on Saturday night. She has been taking classes at Roco for four years. This year she participated in a more advanced modern/jazz class that meets twice a week, vs. the other classes that meet once a week. What a difference double the practice makes! Elli's 3rd grade class performed with a 4th/5th grade class for the recital - 27 performers total. The dance was called Arabian Nights. The music was "Marco Polo" by Loreena McKennitt. They had their dance perfectly synchronized to the music , and each other. Elli performed her best leap ever. She did splits in the air - even she was amazed at how great it was. "I felt like I was flying!!" she said. Of course my little show-off added a little flying leap as she was exiting the stage, and going behind the curtain, which made the entire audience laugh. The Roco recital takes place on stage at the Civic Center in Marin. It's a big stage. The auditorium seats 1,960 people and i...

Woo hoo! I'm a winner! ( Insert happy dance here. ) I won a $100 gift card at ThreeDots about a month ago. It's a little complicated explaining how I won it. Let's just say that it involved Project Runway Finale + Clever Girls Collective + Twitter + Quizzes + Sponsors who donated fabulous prizes = Three Dots + me winning a QUIZ!  Phew. I had my $100 gift card for less than 24 hours. It was BURNING a hole in my cyberspace pocket. I bought this really cute blue dress. I've already worn it to a cocktail party. I just love it. I wish I had a pic from the party. I've been waiting for the party pics to get posted - but the folks at Marin Designers Showcase are apparently in no hurry to publish the hundreds of pics the photographer was snapping all night. So, I'll have to show you the model from the Three Dots website. The dress pretty much looks just like this when you have it on. Except I wasn't striking a pose all night and I had to suck in my gut most...

I don't know about you, but whomever determined that sparkling wine should only be consumed for special occasions should be - - - spanked (lightly.) Because there is nothing tastier than a glass of bubbly. Try it with chinese take out and you'll see what I mean. Plus, it's such a nice thing to bring to a friend's house when visiting. Everyone brings bottles of wine. How fun is it to bring a bottle of bubbly? Trust me, it's a good thing. We always have it on hand. Because you just never know when you'll need it. The June issue of Wine Enthusiast Magazine recently had a big feature called " 30 Sparkling Wines for summer entertaining. " It's a great article. It has great tips on which bubbly to serve with which course. It has pairing suggestions, too. Like this: After reading that I really want linguine and scallops. Anyone want to join me? You're in luck if you live in California. You can pick up some bottles on sale at Bev...

Each year Don and Elli give me a plant for my birthday. I love plants. But I don't know how to keep them alive. Don knows this. I guess he's hoping that I'll figure it out one of these days. Because I know he doesn't buy them hoping I will kill them. He takes care of our plants and flowers at home. I kind of forget. Even when I walk past them everyday. Or they sit on my desk 12" from my face. I don't see them, or think about them. Until they look all sad and it's past the point of no return. So this year he gave me this beautiful orchid to take to work. I haven't brought it to my office yet because my office is so dark, and dark. I know it will die. So it's sitting on the kitchen counter, right in front of the sink where I can see it every morning and every night. And look! Some of the buds are starting to open. I think it likes this spot. I better leave it right here. It also helps that I have Elli there to remind me to water it every Wedne...