Another Fantastic Pair

We had more visitors this month! My cousin Mike and Aunt Karilee came for the weekend. Some highlights were visiting the butterflies at Natural Bridges, playing "Imagine If," and Frisbee Golf.

The two kiddos came with us and they were as cute as ever. I can't get over how beautiful Jade's big blue eyes are. And boy, does she know how to pose. As soon as you point a camera at her, she just smiles away-a family photographer's dream.

I never realized how alike my mom and her sister look until this picture...
These guys are good buds. Whenever they're together they just scheme away about building helicopters, basketball, science, and the list goes on...this time it's photography and catching just the right shot of a moving butterfly.
It was so fun to have Aunt Karilee around! She shared some stories I had never heard of when she was working in child services. No wonder she's an awesome Aunt! She could deal with all kinds of crazy.
Justin LOVES his bridges-He even stopped a guy on the trail because he saw a bridge on his shirt. Justin is trying to climb over the bridge in this picture.
And mike was his usual awesome self-still a teasing but fun cousin. He still pretend punches me.
P.S. Ben is a baby hog. If we have a daughter I will only be seeing her when it's time for a diaper change and a feeding.

Meet the Steeds

We had some very special visitors come into town this month. Ben and I both took off work to spend the weekend with these lovely folks! I'm not sure we could have packed anything else into our totally fun, totally exhausting weekend.

We hit up Umami Burger for the first time-which definitely won't be the last. I never thought that I could love a burger like that.

We took a little drive and dined in Sausalito-One of our favorite places

And of course we made sure they got the bus experience.

My parents came down to see the Steeds for a day. I'm not sure how we fit everything into one day! I promise you this was all in one day--Frisbee golf, dessert at Ghirardelli Square, watched The Bushman (the best human in all San Francisco in my opinion) toured the submarines, crab on the pier, Little Italy for dinner and we made it back just in time for Bob's Donuts to be hot and ready for our late night dessert.

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And to wrap the weekend up, on Monday we spent the day in Alcatraz. It really couldn't have been more gorgeous outside.

Just as we were making our way to Alcatraz...my camera died. Dah! The boys were excited to be done taking pictures at this point.

Weekend Restoration

Meet the victim of my new project.

As you might know, I have been itching to finish my project room. (The less imaginative might call it my closet) I've been postponing because I have been waiting for the right desk to come my way. Aka, a free, good looking desk. It's not as easy as one would think to find the perfect project desk. I was ready to custom make one but wood is so expensive. It's lucky I waited because this weekend I found the perfect table hiding in my parents' garage. They scored it from a client who was moving and no longer wanted it. I was happy to take it off their hands.

Of course, it had to be chopped in two. I'll use the large side as my desk,while the other side will sit against the opposite wall and serve as a matching shelf.

This project took about ten minutes and literally consisted of two steps--measure and cut. The last step will be mounting the desk against my closet wall...and maybe adding a little paint.

I'm sure I got my restoration creativity from my dad because he was about to chop the legs shorter and use it to raise the washer and dryer. Luckily, I also got my generosity from him because he let me have the table instead. It would have been a shame to see these little dowels go to waste.

A Color Fest

We pulled the trigger on the turquoise wall. A turquoise wall would have never happened two years ago. It's not that I would have ever had a problem with painting a wall turquoise but Ben has been fighting for his rights to a bachelor pad since day one. You know, the kind absent of any color.

And look at him now... You should have seen me 3 years ago trying to convince Ben to be a risk taker and register for some vibrant dishes or a funky duvet cover. He cringed when I broke the news to him that one day our whole house would be full of color.

I soon realized that my current method was like the shock you go through each morning when you turn on the lights after a long, dark night...so I decided to take a new approach.

It started with a few orange mugs, next a colorful quilt, an accent chair, some candles...Next thing you know, I've got him smiling about painting a TURQUOISE wall. Can you imagine me being so sneaky?

Little did he know that I had been slowly conditioning him over the last two years.

NOW, You might even catch him saying, "We need some more Rachel in this room."
Translation: "This room needs more color."

Color Obsession

Looks like THIS wall is getting an upgrade. Can you guess what color? You can find it in the China Town photo. Wish me luck!

Never Say Never

This was probably the best halloween ever. I threw a couples halloween party on our rooftop. The decor was Halloween magic. We socialized, ate Halloween treats and watched a Halloween movie. Saturday consisted of frisbee golf and ANOTHER Halloween party.

To say the least, we had an awesome Halloween weekend and it was topped off with a costume party at work...Guess who! Yes I had to take advantage of my short hair and dress up as Justin Bieber. Can you resist this?? That's right, Michelle, our executive assistant, and I were Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. What a good looking pair. I hate to brag but I'm pretty sure the entire office caught the Bieber Fever this Halloween

A Fun Filled Weekend

My brother came into town and stayed with us Friday through Saturday and we had an AWESOME weekend with him! We took him to dinner at our favorite restaurant, took him on his first trolley ride, watched a talented one man band perform on the street and watched a movie on the roof! How's that for entertainment?

Saturday was exceptional as well because the rest of my family came to visit. We played golf in Golden Gate Park and then toured these mosaic steps which are phenomenal. The weekend couldn't have been much better!