Santa Cruz Wine & Crab Taste Off 2012

Back in January, Erik and I decided to venture out to the ocean and check out Santa Cruz. It was a rather rainy cold day, but we still had fun.  I think that we attract rain every time we go wine tasting. Back in April we went to Illinois wine country and it rained, in November we went to Healdsburg and it rained, and now in Santa Cruz, it rained. But we did not let that dampen (hehe) our mood.

We first went to brunch at a local place, Zachary's.  It definitely lived up to its Yelp reviews and fortified our tummies for the wine tasting awesome that was happening that afternoon (I think 30+ wineries were represented).

Next, the Boardwalk. I have a feeling that this may be a better adventure when it is NOT raining outside, but we got the general feel for the place.  I was sad that none of the stuff was open.  I was looking forward to riding rides built in the 1920s.  At any rate, according to my guidebook, it was built in 1907 and is the only boardwalk left on the West Coast. (sad face) It also is the oldest amusement park in California, which reminds me that we need to go to Great America before it closes to build the new 49ers stadium (right behind our neighborhood).

Two things. 1) My husband is awesome and 2) They have fried Twinkies in California. You'd think with all the regulations forcing people into healthy living that these would be banned, but no, it is a boardwalk afterall.

From the pier. If only it were a sunny day...

One of the largest 4 remaining classic merry-go-rounds in California. These horses are hand carved and have real horse hair tails.  Apparently, the 342-pipe organ in the center is a rare 1894 Ruth Und Sohn band organ.

Entertaining kiddos since 1911
Built in New Jersey

Four generations of Marini's have made the salt water taffy here since 1915.

After braving it in the "cold" we headed a little further south to Aptos where the wine and crab festival began. Here's a link to 2013's event. We had a great time as always.  This event was particularly fun because the restaurants were competing to get the best dish.  With our tickets, we each got 2 appetizers at both restaurants we selected to visit. We met some fun people, drank some excellent wine (and won a wine tour at a local vineyard!), and tasted some delicious food.

We wore dark clothing because it was a wine tasting after all (and people throw elbows to get their pours -- I'm not joking). The view at Sanderlings at Seascape Beach Resort was amazing. This place may end up being a nice little weekend get away for us this summer.

Workin' it.

Could he get any cuter?! I think not.

365 Project: My Week in Photos

March 4:  Bedside

My nightly routine: Earplugs, carmex, water bottle (no glasses of water for us -- cats tend to knock them over, which makes for an unpleasant wake up), and 3 books to choose from (not that I've read any books besides bar books recently).

March 5:  A Smile

I feel creepy taking photos of people besides E and me, and I'm self conscience of my smile so... photo of a wedding photo on my desk it is. Btw, my first day back at work was awesome minus the fact that I got a TON of work and ended up working late and not working out all week. Hence no blogposts since last Wednesday!

March 6:  5PM

The cherry trees outside my window are blooming and look amazing. Such a pleasant thing to greet me on my first week back at work.  One of my partners mentioned on Tuesday about getting me moved to the wing with my group (I'm in a different wing), but I don't want to leave my cute little office (and have everyone know my comings and goings). I always get my work done; people don't need to know what time I leave.

March 7:  Something You Wore

I decided to get a little crazy and wear both this giraffe necklace AND a leopard belt and flats.  It was a safari-theme kind of day. Also, the giraffe is taken in front of a CCH binder containing federal securities laws. That's just how he rolls.

March 8:  Window

On Thursday, I took the train into San Francisco to see my cousin, Kim, who was visiting from NYC. We went to an awesome restaurant/ wine bar (Marlowe). What I particularly loved about it was that it was across the street from the train station, which meant that I didn't have to brave rush hour traffic to get to dinner in the city AND I didn't have to try to find a cab in Soma (SoMa?), which looked like a rather sketchy area. At any rate, I love this picture because it has a lot going on—both the sights you can see through the window (notice how it looks like I have a bus phone cover) and the reflection of the inside of the train (my hands with a highlighter because I did work on the train and the coats in the side bin).
Side note: It is an absolute travesty that this train in SILICON VALLEY does not have free wifi. Just sayin'.

March 9:  Red

Tomatoes are red... This one is a stretch, but my lunch looked so pretty! Expect a blog post on Wednesday about this recipe. It's definitely being added to our menu rotation.

March 10:  Loud

Again with the earplugs.  To be honest, there were several things I could have taken a photo of this Saturday.  However, they would have been creepy.  Runners up: Zumba class at my gym (seriously, they need to shut the door to the class—it echoes everywhere). Costco in general, or our dishwasher.  Seriously, we have the loudest dishwasher ever.  We end up having to double the tv volume if we are watching tv in the living room and/or shout at the other person if they are in the kitchen while it's running. We have a small place. So this is shocking.  At any rate, I picked ear plugs for this day because I do wear earplugs every night, which I have been doing since 2005. (Don't worry. I've asked my doctor and this is fine).  Erik snores sometimes, we have cats, and I'm VERY sensitive to sounds. In fact, I don't think I ever got a good night's sleep in NYC.  I kept waiting to acclimate and it never happened. Fortunately, since we live in the 'burbs now, most nights are quiet and the planes from SJC don't start running until 6am (same for the commuter trains) so I sleep much better in California.  Probably also has to do with the fact I upgraded to better earplugs.  Seriously, these things are the best ear plugs I've tried (and believe me, over 6.5 years, I've tried a ton).

Quick announcement: I've had some computer problems over the weekend (and late last week) in addition to being slammed at work (too soon!). So, I'm a bit behind on posts.  I'm hoping to remedy that tomorrow, but I didn't want you to think that I was slacking off! Expect me to be back on track with my weekly schedule if not this week then next.

Hall Closet

There was a one week span last month where I had to organize EVERYTHING. (see here and here and here for examples). However, this time instead of Pinterest pressuring me into it, it was my husband.  Of course, my initial response was that if it was bothering him so much, he could fix it. About a month later and several complaints later, I decided that I would just do it myself because that would be easiest.

Before:

So this doesn't look soo bad, but it really is. The coats are just crammed in there and we had to access the bag at the top every week for grocery shopping. Erik would complain that he couldn't fit his coat in and that he hated getting the bags from the top. Not to mention the fact that if we ever had guests, there would be no room for their coats!

Here's the really bad part. Because Erik hated getting the bags from the top, we would end up just throwing them in at the bottom. The cats would get into the closet and it would be a disaster trying to get them out. We also had snowboard boots in there. It was no a functional space AT ALL.

After:

I removed all the heavy winter coats and put them in underbed storage bins in our guest bedroom. Who was I kidding? I am not going to need "thinsulate" here in San Jose. So problem 1 solved. Second, I removed all non-essential items from the closet (snowboard boots).  I kept the rain boots because, well, there isn't another place for them.  What I like most is we can put the vacuum in the hall closet where it belongs and I don't have to hear E complain that he can't fit his coat.

I kept the basket and put totes and other things we rarely use in it. Because the closet is so narrow, it is not easy to get the bin in and out (again, I hate bi-fold doors with a passion). I moved all our shopping bags to a clear bin that I had (it used to store clean cat litter --- don't worry, I cleaned it!). This way, we can just pull the bin out (it has a convenient handle), get our bags, and go. We've also been really good about putting the bags back in the bin when we are done so it still looks this nice. I think that's a sign of a functionally organized space.

In summary,
Cost: Free
Time: 20 minutes
Verdict: No more complaining husband.