Californian berry pickn

Aside from the cost of living and bad government, California is pretty close to perfect. Yesterday we drove down to Watsonville (farming capital) and went strawberry and olallieberry picking...seriously yum. We had such a great time- we were planning on going with a bigger group of people, but ended up going a little later and it was just the three of us. We talked and sang to Newsies and Beauty and the Beast on the way down, and hit that strawberry/ollalieberry patches like there was no tomorrow. It was perfect. May more summer days be more like this :)

Seriously heaven. Picking a strawberry off the plant and right into your mouth...

 She was a mean berry picker.

 Should I say this out loud? We spent $40 on berries for the day!!! Steve is going to be sooo happy!!!

 Working hard!!

 You just can't resist.

 We ate so many strawberries... ah!

 Yes, they are THAT good. Esp on a warm summer day.

 This was our loot for the first patch!!

The smell of these berries at home was irresistable. (I say was, because we are eating them so fast)

 This is the entrance to the Olallieberry patch. I miss Dr. Marmor! When Steve and I were living on Stanford Campus, we lived in the tiniest cottage behind a professor's house. Those were really good times- not to mention that we were able to pick from his Olallieberry patch in the summer. I would pick gallon fulls and put them in his freezer, and of course take many for my mouth :)

 My cuties.

 Having a blast together.

 At first, these guys thought they were rasberries... and they started to pick them red! I forgot to tell them to pick them black!!! We started over and got a huge bowl in no time flat!

Loving berries must be in our genes :) 

After picking, we headed over to the farm's deli (thanks to L's recommendation!). I was seriously dying waiting in line looking at the pies (Oh...is it too much to dream that they could be Gluten Free? Hee hee. Probably!) 

 Super cute place.

 Our view. Could it be any more idyllic?

Our Deli Lunch: Sandwich, fruit, chips, an apple slushi and a cookie. Seriously a perfect summer lunch.

Our little friend

About a week ago, we noticed a bird starting to make a nest in a little niche outside of our front door! This has happened before, but they abandoned it because it wasn't that peaceful. But, to our amazement, this little bird has stayed! And is laying eggs (we think). Poor thing, though- because every time we open or close the door it freaks out and flies away to a tree and then has to come back and settle itself in again.

See her? She is so cute. This is the second time this has happened to me and my abode- In my freshman dorm, my roommate and I always left the windows open, and forgot to close them for spring break. She was gone, but I ended up coming a few days earlier. Apparently, a bird built a nest on top of our bookshelf and had 4 eggs! While I was taking a nap one afternoon, the eggs hatched and the babies fell out of the bookshelf onto my roommate desk and then eventually flew out the window. It was crazy town but SUPER cool. I'll definitely never forget that.

I hope she lays eggs and we get to see the birds hatch :)

A Burke Williams Birthday

Last year I got a Burke Williams gift certificate from work and I finally got to use it for A's birthday... We all got different treatments, and I love loved my facial... and probably needed it, as I'll describe below. I've never been to Burke Williams, but it is a really nice atmosphere with tons of different rooms you can relax in. The sauna was so nice...

After three hours at the spa, we went to dinner at The Counter which is always one of my favorites. And, I felt so relaxed with these ladies.

An unexpected benefit of this night was my total change in skin care- After having kids, I have been fighting tons of breakouts and signed up for proactiv, like everyone else in America :) I actually really liked it, and felt like it was helping me... but the aestician told me after looking at my skin, it looked liked papyrus paper! Ugh! I was using so much hydrogen peroxide it was drying my skin out, and causing my skin to overproduce oil, so there was always kind of a low level of acne at all times.

Anyway- I was totally skeptical, but since I had extra money on my gift certificate, I bought the stuff she recommended, and it's been almost 1 month now- I haven't used proactiv, and have NO ACNE... and I really feel like my skin is so much healhier. So- what am I using?

H2V Skin Care as a cleanser- and I think a mild cleanser will do

You're supposed to exfoliate every couple of days or so

Eminence Herbal Spot Serum (an organic acne fighting concoction). I love this stuff- and I've never used anything like it. It cleared my face in a couple of days, but doesn't leave skin feeling dry... I think I'm hooked.

Aveeda tinted moisturizer (super love this)

And- for some more product reviews

My hairdresser recommended this to me (because I was complaining about really fuzzy, unhealthy hair)... and this stuff is amazing. It is a leave in conditioner that basically transforms your hair from feeling dry/frizzy to silky smooth. No joke. I love it.

You +1'd this publicly. Undo

Everybody Shuffl'n

My birthday was the best. We figure that we are getting old (well, not relatively), but as we start kicking these years down, we are going to do it in style. Afterall, the only thing we have is time, right? So- we celebrated big!!

Steve made me the BESTEST b-day lunch with all of my favorite things... salmon, rice, tomatos/cucumbers, and all of these amazing salads. Soooo yummy. I am so lucky to be married to such a great cook.

We made this gluten free ice cream cake together- which was a big feat. It actually turned out pretty good- but I'll have to tweak the cake mix because it dries out earlier than normal.

I love these candles- they don't remind you of how many years your turning! Just a nice greeting !

Later on in the week, we threw a dance party- hip hop style. I'm not sure why I have been obsessed with dance mobs/hip hop/dancing in general, but why not!? My favorite song as of late is Rock Party Anthmn by LMFAO... and we have been practicing how to "shuffle" at home. Even little Emi says "Everybody shuffln!" Man- it can be hard. But- a good workout.

We rented out a dance studio (http://eliteballroomstudio.com/) of a friend of ours (check it out! It's awesome!!), and got her to teach us choreographed moves to the chorus of Rock Party Anthmn for 30 min and then then learn how to cha cha for the second 30 min.

I can't wait to pull out these moves in a random location to be announced :)

We then spent the next two hours dancing like there was no tomorrow- man- I felt like I was 16 again. I LOVE dancing, and have always loved it, but we just haven't gone in forever. With the help of many (songs aren't my strong suit), we pulled together an awesome dance mix. I don't think I stopped for more than 10 minutes.

There wasn't much time to take any pics, but the ones we did have (in our amateur rickety photo booth) came out awesomely blurry!



Some awesome party goers! Thanks for the props Janelle- super cute.

Hiking! (and canoeing)

We just don't do it enough...but when we do, we remember how much we like it. Last weekend we drove up Skyline in Palo Alto... and went on one of our favorite hikes. Steve has the "journey" down where he gets the kids excited to get to the "hawk canyon," "enchanted forest," and "rocky tree." All in all, it's 3 miles of a lot of different vegetation which makes it more interesting for them- and then ends up overlooking silicon valley. We could see up to San Francisco- it is so peaceful to sit up there in the grass... love it!

 Cool tunnel.

 My cute EMMMM.

 Lots of love.

 Unfortunately, whenver I say "cheese," so does Emi... which becomes this funny face because she is saying cheese. Maybe next time I'll say Smile!!

 Mmm. Maybe this is where they got poison oak?! arh! Steve got it on his leg... and we think Emi got it on her face...
Watch out- it's the season!!

Aftwards we went canoeing at Shoreline- which was packed, but fun :) It's also super nice when you have a very strong man in back doing all the work!