Arbor Walk Update 3

Today was absolutely beautiful. And even though we have two rather large pumpkins growing out front, it is technically still summer. The Arbor Walk was a perfect place to sit as the sun warmed up. It's free of breezes and you can pick your spot. Either a sunny deck or a shady one. One of these days we'll get our new outdoor table and then we'll eat out there whenever we want.

It did kind of have an autumn smell, which kind of makes me look forward to HALLOWEEN which makes me look forward to THANKSGIVING and don't forget about CHRISTMAS!

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'm going to get myself a glass of Chardonnay and sip it on the front porch. Life's good.

Juicy Juice

Here at Wellington we're trying very hard not to think of the awful day in the future (two more days!) when the littlest chick will be leaving for sleep-away school. I've hung on to him with two clenched fists for as long as possible. One by one my fingers have been pried off his arms while his feet edge closer and closer to the door.

So we distract ourselves as much as possible. It's a coping mechanism we have honed over the last (seven) years. Some people call it denial. I like to think of it as mental agility.

For instance, would you just LOOK at that gorgeous JUICE?! A month or so ago The Husband and I bought a juicer. It's this monstrous contraption resembling a large food processor. You click the parts together and shove in whole fruits and vegetables. You sort of cringe as it whirs and spins and spits out glasses of fruity goodness. Or in the case of The Husband, greenish vegetable slop. He seems to like it. Actually if you shove an apple in there (we take the seeds out just in case there's any truth to the old wive's tail about apple seeds being poisonous), anything tastes like fruit juice.

The juice pictured above is apple, peach, carrot and orange. I put a half an orange right in there, peal and all! Sometimes I'll shove a handful of fresh spinach and/or kale for good measure. I always put three ice cubes in mine so it seems like a summer drink! It's so good for me. Apparently it is full of something called "micronutrients", which sounds positively healthful. The first two times I drank a glass I actually got dizzy. Something about the stuff passing right into your blood stream or something, I don't know.

And here's a tip I made up with my frugal little brain. Once the spinning is done and you have your glass of juice, there's all this PULP leftover. I read somewhere you could just bake the pulp, which generally consists of fruit and vegetable matter, including kale, spinach, carrot and celery, with meringue on top. They lied. It tasted gross, apparently. I didn't try it. But when the husband proclaimed it tasted sort of like carrot cake (as he made a face and threw the rest in the trash) I was positively inspired to bake what is now referred to as Pulp Cake (or carrot cake if the kids are in the room). It was yummy! And you could hardly taste the radish.

Oh little boy, I'm going to miss you. I'll have to bake you something yummy and nutritious to take along.

Family Day Out: San Francisco with Picasso

It was a very stimulating weekend for the Fam here in Northern California. We started at the deYoung museum in San Francisco where they had a fabulous Picasso exhibit. That Picasso sure was an interesting fellow. I mostly like his older work. Like this Still Life with a Pitcher and Apples (photo courtesy of this website), that he did in 1919. In his later years he got pretty outrageous. Like this one painting of a girl going into a cabana. We thought it looked like a horse a camel or a llama, depending on who you asked. It was pretty cool to see his works, though. When we were done trying to figure him out (I think we all really enjoyed it), we wandered around the rest of the museum. I loved the Inuit art best of all, I think. I also enjoyed the views from the Hamon Tower.
It was beautiful.

Then we drove through the city. I enjoyed some of the architecture right from the comfort of my car! (I wasn't driving.)

Then! My favorite part of the day, even better than PICASSO was visiting The Dot's office. I can't say too much about it on account of they do a lot of secret stuff in there, but here is a picture of her desk! (It's the one on the left)And here is where she would hang up her bike if she rode one to work. She doesn't, but only because it's 35 miles which includes two bridges.There were lots more cool pics of her office, but I'm afraid of revealing corporate secrets, so these will have to do.

But here is the view from her gym. Is she so lucky? Yes! (She works hard, too, I'm sure. But come on.)

Speaking of bridges, here's what it looks like when you're going over the San Francisco Bay Bridge and you just come out of the tunnel and you're sitting in the back seat because your little boy is six feet tall now, for crying out loud.

It was a very fun day. Luckily, because The Little Boy leaves for sleep-away school soon and we're going to miss him. :(