Quick Note - Friend in Town!

We got to see an old friend in late July when Nicole Reese traveled into town from Houston for work... Although brief, we had a great visit at a little sports bar off of 4th Street in San Fran. Great to see you Nicole - looking forward to hangin' with you all sometime soon! We miss y'all sooo much!

Dates with Shay

Thankfully I've had a partner in crime during my play days off these last few weeks. Shay is a full time MOM and is a veteran at finding fun things to do in San Fran so we've met up for a few 'dates' to hang out lately. It's been AWESOME!

We checked out a new breakfast place called The Flower Market Cafe which happens to be (surprise - surprise) located beside a giant flower market! There are TONS of flowers...it's like a dream...every beautiful shade and type of flower you can imagine, if you can name it - they have it! These pictures really don't do it all justice but this gives you a bit of an idea of just how beautiful it is.

On another of our outings we headed to the San Francisco Zoo (I LOVE the zoo!) for a fun-filled day with Rhys and Myles. It was a blast... We got to see the new baby monkey that was born a few months ago (and his giant dad) as well as ride the carousel and train. It was awesome... Reminded me of going to the zoo when Iwas younger with daycare - I can remember going on a trip where my Dad chaperoned and ran around taking pictures of me at the petting zoo...just like I was doing with Myles and Rhys - haha! We really had a great time!

Darb - Not sure if you read my blog but if you do, the picture above reminds me of YOU...you know why! I miss you!

Shay has introduced me to several other fun places including Zazie , a super cute little restaurant where we had a delicious breakfast, located in the SF neighborhood of Cole Valley... Also, another fun restaurant, the Blue Barn had a killer turkey sandwich with brie, my absolutely favorite... She took me here AFTER introducing me to maybe the hardest workout I've ever done at...The Bar Method. This is like yoga/pilates times 10, using only a bar for balance and your strength to sustain energy throughout the pain and anguish which promises (and I believe) to deliver a much more toned body. Although super rough, I'm totally hooked - I'll be frequenting The Bar Method again very soon.

Enjoy the pictures - and thanks to Shay for being my new SFBF...more soon!

Sibling Love in San Francisco

So a week after we visited LA, Brother headed up north and flew in for the weekend in San Francisco. I have to say it was awesome to see him two weeks in a row, so much fun.

Our first day in the city we headed to Muir Woods, a National Redwood Forest and it was so beautiful! I can remember reading about Redwood Trees way-back-when and not really understanding the concept that a tree could be so big. All I could say - over and over again that day, was - WOW! These trees are gi-normous and so magical...I could have stayed in this forest forever, and we kinda did...stayed there a lot longer than we planned for anyway, haha. We decided to take the long hiking trail - and let's just say we got our work out for the day. =)

I propose we plant more Redwood's around the world - it makes people like me look TINY!...love it...hehe!

I'm officially a tree-hugger...literally!

On the way down the mountain, leaving Muir Woods, we pulled over to take a couple of pictures looking out at the bay. It is just so beautiful all around San Francisco - the sites almost make you forget about the weather...except for those giant gushes of wind that come through every 5 to 10 seconds. =)

Saturday morning we walked down to the Ferry Building with the pups - showed Christopher AT&T Park and the amazing Farmer's Market hosted at the Ferry Building every Saturday. See all those little tents in the picture below - imagine the freshest fruit, nuts, flowers, etc. that you've ever seen or tasted...it really is amazing.

This is some wierd fountain we passed while walking around - you can actually walk through the fountain...pretty cool. It's a kids dreamland!

Picture above is from one of Marc's work events we went to over the weekend. Our friend Shay took the picture in the middle of working - photographing the event. Such a good picture - thought I'd share.

Another of the fun things we did while Brother was here was go to the Golden Gate Bridge, minus one Marc Magnone. Marc's not big on heights - especially no big heights. So we went with the intention of scoping it out to see if he'll be going on the next site-seeing trip over it. Not sure I'll be able to convince him - especially after these pictures!

Not the most comforting sign to see as you arrive in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge... =)

We had SOO MUCH FUN - I miss you Brother. Thanks for hanging with us and making me laugh and feel at home for awhile. It was so great - can't wait to see you in September!

LA-LA with my Favorite Brother!

YES - I know he's my only brother...minor details. I recently realized a ton has happened since my last update - figured I better get on top of things or I'm going to forget some of the 'awesome-ness' of the past few weekends. I was lucky enough to see my little brother two weekends in a row in July - so incredible. I really never knew growing up that one day he'd be like my best friend - we have so much fun together just being stupid and goofing off. It's great! Of course he still annoys me by being as sarcastic as possible and picking on me every so often but hey, he wouldn't be my brother if he didn't do those things - I expect them! He's become a great friend and has even taught me a lot about myself over these past few months...he lives 6 hours away from me in LA and I can honestly say I'm going to miss him even more when he moves back to Texas. He's pretty much the best brother - ever...just so we're clear.

So, back to my story - Marc and I went down to LA earlier this month for a long weekend visit with Chris, Kash and Tina - it was a blast. First of all, Kash is an old friend of Marc's who is pretty fantastic and an absolute blast to hang out with. He met a great girl (Tina, just so we're clear) and quickly scooped-her-up and they are set to be married in none other than HAWAII in September...yes, I'm jealous and sad we'll miss it but am definitely anxiously awaiting the pictures. Tina was off to her bachlorette party in Vegas for the weekend but we did get to sneak in one dinner before her departure.

Next day, Laguna Beach with Little Bro while Marc worked - so incredibly amazing...I wish I was there RIGHT NOW. In short - Paradise in CA.

The next day we headed to Malibu, close to where Kash and Tina live in Calabasas (sp?) for another fun filled day on the beach. What a great area - I'd move there immediately if given the chance...uhm...if I could change one thing - the RIDICULOUS traffic!

I like to call the picture above 'Palm Marc'

So lucky - hangin' with three studds on the beach... =)

We stopped for some scenic pictures including stopping off at an old movie set to take some fun pictures and 'check things out'. So cool - fun to play!

Headed out to Katsuya in Hollywood for the evening - had an amazing dinner with some pretty fantastic food and the company was perfect, of course. We really had soooo much fun!

And look who made a cameo appearance....JEFF! Jill's big brother was hangin' at the same restaurant, one table over from us - sooo random but great to see him and catch up for a minute!

This picture of Kash might be my favorite of the evening...we had so much fun that we almost missed our flight on the way out. Any excuse to stay a little longer! Thanks to Kash, Tina and Brother for being fantastic hosts - we can't wait to come back and also, can't wait for you to come visit us! Stay tuned for pictures from Brother's weekend in San Francisco...coming soon!