Move over Cézanne. There's a new artist in town.

Last Sunday I joined a couple of my girlfriends and a few other ladies at our friend Jackie's house in Valley Ranch to have a Paint Party. Jackie's sister, Apple, is a model out in LA and started an organization called FeedAModel.com. Apple and a few of her friends have paint parties every month or so, where they paint works of art that they sell at events around town and online. Part of the proceeds they keep for themselves (because believe it or not, models do eat - contrary to the believe that we common folk have that they either visit the porcelain gods
after meals or slice a single carrot and carry it around in Ziploc baggie all day to munch on), and part of them are donated to a list of their favorite charities. It's a great organization and I highly suggest looking taking a look at the website.

The only requirement that we had was to bring our own canvas, so I picked up a 18x24 stretched canvas and headed to Jackie's house. She and Apple had made pina coladas and I came armed and ready with three bottles of champagne and a carton of orange juice to make mimosas. About 15 girls showed up and we shared Jackie's paints and brushes to make our beau-ti-mous paintings. Some of them were, err, interesting...and others were really good.

Erin showing off her paint palate

My painting before finishing touches

Erin after her 6th mimosa, or rather champagne colored with o.j.

Amy stopping her creative process for a pose

Kate and I - it's been almost a year and a half since I last saw her!

That's my painting in the foreground. I know you want to buy it.

Jackie, our host for the afternoon

Towards the end of the party, we were all delightfully buzzed

Jackie was a brave soul to let a bunch of girls paint on her living room floor, especially with liquor involved. But we all had a great time and I hope we get to do another one before too long. Thanks Jackie and Apple!

Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg

Ahh, Christmas in the dirt-filled plains!

Kevin and I left with Shadow in tow last Wednesday (James let me stay home for the day but Kev had to work...hehehe) around noon and drove up to West Texas to spend the Christmas holidays with my family.

After we settled in, we had a few Christmas cocktails and my mom brought out her old record player that I used to listen to down in our basement when I was a kid. One particular record stayed on the player 24/7 - West End Girls by the Pet Shop Boys. I remember choreographing many detailed dances to this song on weekday afternoons after school.

A little dusty, but still plays like a champ 40+ years later

A few hours later, "Santa" put us all to bed so she could put all of our goodies in each of our stockings (dogs included). Jordan spend the night in Muleshoe as well, and brought Captain Karl Wallace (Shadow's nemesis) and Layla Mae (Shelbi Ri's dog) with him.

On Christmas morning, Kevin opened our bedroom door and Shadow rushed out to see Nettie in the kitchen. Karl had already beaten him to the punch and the two got into a nasty little fight. Kevin grabbed the first big black blob he saw and unfortunately it was Karl - who without intention - sunk his top bite into Kevin's thigh. Karl's canine punctured almost all the way and Kevin pulled back in severe pain just in time for my mom to grab Shadow and throw him outside. It was an eventful start to the holidays to say the least.

Kevin had to shave his thigh so the bandaids would rip his hair. Poor thing.

Following that fiasco, we had an awesome breakfast and opened our stockings and gifts from each other. Kevin and I had waited to open our gifts to/from one another until we were with my family.
As a couple, we gave my parents an invitation to see King Tut at the DMA with us in January followed by dinner at La Duni - they are wicked stoked about it!
My parents gave me some outdoor patio furniture, decorative serving dishes, kitchen gadgets, and a few other things.
Kevin gave me a 10-piece set of Rachael Ray hard-anodized cookware to replace the overused skillets and pots that lurked in my kitchen cabinets, a Calphalon grill pan, a bunch of kitchen gadgets...then he took out the small box I had been eyeing under our tree. Butterflies raced through my stomach as I took off the wrapping - and - WOW! He overdid himself! It was a beautiful heart and diamond necklace! I'm so proud to wear it every day now.
I gave Kevin a pair of TOMS shoes, a Swiss Army laptop bag, a Vinotemp 6-bottle wine fridge along with some other small stuff.

For lunch, my mom cooked an awesome spread of food and we ate at our fancy schmancy dinner table on the fine china...in our pajamas! Staring at all of the presents in front of us, I had to wonder, "Recession? What recession?"

Kevin opening one of his presents

My dad and brother, who was sporting his Batman pj's

Later that afternoon, Shelbi Ro. invited Kev and I over to her mom and stepdad's house for pomegranate martinis. My parents came over later on and by 9pm, I was nice and toasted! Friday we had another Christmas in Muleshoe, this time with my dad's parents and his sister and my two cousins. Again, we opened the booze later on that afternoon and continued the celebration until the late hours.

Saturday morning, we packed up Kevin's 4Runner and we all headed to Floydada to see my mom's parents. My grandmother and mom made prime rib with all the fixins (including 24 hour salad, yay!) and we opened a third round of gifts. Kevin got a Texas-shaped drain stopper gag gift, and I got fluffy ducky slippers. They also gave me the K2 rollerblades that I've been dying to have and a bamboo butcher block! I made out like a bandit.

Shadow ungratefully demanding some love from my grandfather Popi

We rolled back into Dallas around 11pm on Saturday night. We needed Sunday to finish moving Kevin out of his apartment and I had a paint party that afternoon (which I'll blog about soon!). Shadow is still a little depressed about leaving Nettie's side (and Popi's, for that matter) but I think he'll get over it soon. Until then, he can rest in his new handmade doggie bed she made for his Christmas present. ("Thanks grandma!" says Shadow)

Best holiday so far, hands down.

*So as to not confuse my audience, Shelbi Ri (Richardson) is my brother's girlfriend and Shelbi Ro (Robinson) is my long-time friend from Muleshoe. I know, it can get confusing. Believe me.

Sugar lips

Tuesday night after work, Kevin and I stopped at our neighborhood Majestic liquor store on Oak Lawn to see our favorite booze-selling gay friends and pick up some vodka. Because God forbid we don't have a bottle of Exact laying around.

Well there just so happens to be a Snookie's next door. And often when we drive by on other nights, Kevin and I get a glimpse of what it was like BS (Before Shadow) but those hopes are always shattered by the big black blob in the backseat. On this particular night though, we got a wild hair and decided it would be okay to leave him alone in the back for 15 minutes so we could actually act normal and have an electric lemonade (if you haven't ever had one, I suggest you do so right away).

Kevin asked me to take the bag of "presents" he got for my parents' dog Gracie and my brother's dog Karl into Snookie's with me, in case he got a little curious in the backseat.

Fast forward 20 minutes. I open my passenger door and see this in Kevin's seat.


Kevin's sister from New York, Denise, was kind enough to overnight a box of assorted homemade cookies to us. We remembered to grab the dog treats...but not the people treats. And there was Shadow, who had oh-so-conveniently jumped back over the boundary strap and returned into the backseat, smackin the sprinkles off his chops.

Thanks, dude. What a good boy.

Weekend Update: Meat, State Champs and Cowboys

It's been so crazy around here lately that I've slacked on blogging. Terrible, I know!

Okay, let's start with Friday night. We had the Annual Lookout Software Christmas Party, this year at Texas de Brazil. Kevin and I aren't a couple publicly yet in front of the other employees, so I took Leigh as my date. Everyone else, excluding Kevin, also brought a date and we all had a good time. Leigh and I attacked the salad bar like we hadn't eaten in days and downed enough Freixenet to float the entire restaurant, so you KNOW we had a good time!

The company handed out great gifts to us all -
warm fleece jackets (for employees only) and personal coolers (for everyone) with Lookout Software monograms on them.

Miss Finney and me, happily drinking our bubbly

Jeremy and his girlfriend Stephanie

James and his wife Courtney

Niya, Cathy and her partner Gwenn

Kevin, Ryan and his wife, Niya and her date

After dinner Kevin, James and his wife Courtney, Jeremy and his girlfriend Stephanie, Leigh and I went out for drinks. Unfortunately my camera didn't make it out, but I do recall seeing a terrible band at Sambuca and playing quarters at the Loon.

After we closed down the Loon, Kevin tells me that he's taking me somewhere for a "surprise." And I was all like, "Sweetheart, the only 'surprises' open past 2am are restaurants and rave clubs. And neither sound enticing right now."

He ignored my drunken request to go home and drove us to Buzzbrews, this breakfast joint that's attached to a La Quinta and only busy from 2am to 4am on Friday and Saturday nights. It's the same place that I discovered Kevin had gone to on his joy ride with my car at 3am a few weeks ago. And where had he been previous to the joy ride? The Loon. Shocker.

We sat down, got menus, and I promptly told him I did not want to be there, that our bed sounded like a much better place to sober up. And didn't we JUST eat a plate full of meat like three hours ago? He thanked me the next morning for pulling his head out from under a menu full of omelets and pancakes.

Saturday we used our kidless freedom (Shadow was at "camp" - or at least that's what we tell him when he goes to the kennel) to move some things to Granbury. I had hoped a greasy burger at Village Burger Bar would help my hangover, but all it did was make matters worse.

But I pulled myself together later that afternoon and we made it to the Muleshoe vs. Kirbyville State Championship Playoff game at the Gopher Bowl in Grand Prairie just after kickoff. The stands were packed from end to end. I got to see a few old classmates and cheered on the Mules. We left at halftime, but I got text updates from Megan and we won 48-26. For the first time in school history, Muleshoe captured the 2A State Championship title! Go Mules...GATA!

Me, Megan and Kayla

After we off-roaded through several fields to get out of the cluster-eff called 'parking' we drove up to McKinney to have a small party with some of Kevin's friends - John, Melissa, Holly and Mike. You might remember John and Melissa from our dinner at MiCocina a while back. We all played Rock Band (I'm terrible on the drums, by the way) and had a great time. I'm looking forward to seeing the molestation Christmas Card pictures from Holly's camera. I'll post them as soon as I get a copy.

Sunday, I cooked lunch and we just hung around the apartment. Leigh took me to second-to-last home Cowboys game in Texas Stadium against the Giants that night. Traffic was a NIGHTMARE but we made it in, finally. We were greeted by a 350 pound man wearing a homemade Cowboys cheerleader outfit holding a sign that read, "Tony, will you marry me?" Although whoever fitted him for the bottoms didn't measure right - his 'Joe the Plumber' was in full view of everyone behind him. I tried to get some good shots with my phone without looking too obvious. But seriously, would you dress like that and not expect to get your picture taken?

Yes, that is a large tattoo running down his side

The blonde wig was quite nappy looking

Leigh got the tickets from a friend of Katie's (Leigh's sister) - he bought a block of tickets with one of his friends but couldn't make it back to Dallas in time for the game so Leigh bought them. The friend that he bought the tickets with sat next to us never introduced himself (he didn't look a day over 19), but apparently he and Katie's friend were texting through the whole game about how hot we were. How cute!

Thanks Leigh for taking me to yet another great Dallas sporting event!

Great seats!

Apologies for the close-up - the girl behind us zoomed in with my phone

Our first (and my first REAL) Christmas tree

Last Friday night, I convinced Kevin that we needed a real Christmas tree. Yes, he is moving out of his place 3 days after Christmas Day, but Christmas isn't Christmas without a tree and presents underneath. Even if that means taking it down before we leave town for Christmas holiday.

My family never had a real Christmas tree while I was growing up. I thought it was because of my mom's allergies. Turns out we never bought one because Muleshoe is the 1/10th the size of a pin prick on a map...Christmas tree sale yards don't exactly set up shop within a reasonable distance. Another reason why I set up shop in Dallas.

So every year after Thanksgiving, my family would drag out the biggest dustiest box in the attic, down the stairs (I probably learned my first curse word while executing this task), and across the living room so we could unfold all of the layers and put all of our handmade ornaments on it. Don't get me wrong - setting up the tree was a tradition I looked forward to every year. But there's something special about a real tree.

But back to Friday night. We opted for the rich-man's Walmart for all of the ornaments and decorations; then Kevin took me to a Christmas tree yard off the Tollway to look for trees. When we got home I made hot apple cider...laced with the good ole Captain, duh. Decorating a tree without booze is a Christmas crime in my book.

Shadow provided the entertainment. Cheeto balancing, anyone?

Then he helped decorate the tree. Sort of.

Ornament placement involves detailed strategic planning

The finished product

I hope your Christmas is as special as ours is...and don't forget the hot toddies.

Thanksgiving in the dust

Last weekend for Thanksgiving, Kevin, Shat-oh! and I drove out to Muleshoe. And Kevin was all, "It smells like cow shit out here." Yes, I know honey. And harvest is nearing its end, which doesn't make the air quality much better.

Thanksgiving Day was really wonderful; I realize that these next few holiday seasons will probably be the last ones I will be able to spend with some of my grandparents. Although my mom's dad is still practicing medicine and riding his stationary bike daily, that doesn't change that fact that he is 83 years young and can't live forever. So I treasure the days when I get to spend time with them.

My dad's mom brought her famous cornbread stuffing, and my mom's mom bought a ridiculously awesome chocolate cake from Williams Sonoma. Oh, and I fell flat-face-in-love with my mom's 7 layer salad. I had a large helping of it. And another. And another. And then she had to make another one because we were supposed to have it again the next day but I had eaten it all (no joke).

On Friday, we ate lunch at Leal's and I took Kevin to Muleshoe's Williams General Store and the Dollar General (shout out!). That night we went across state borders to Clovis, New Mexico with my friend Shelbi, her boyfriend Russ, and his brother Chad.

Chad, Shelbi and Russ

We started off with margaritas at Chili's (hey, our options are limited in Clovis), then stopped by Kelley's bar.

Landshark beer is pretty good, btw

Kevin needs to take silly face lessons from me

They kicked us out for being so cute

It was a tad bit ghet-toe there so we decided it was time to submit Kevin to redneck and cowboy heaven at Clovis City Limits. Think fake Brighton purses, Stetsons and a big dance floor with couples two-stepping to Clint Black.

On the way home we stopped at Allsup's in Farwell, Texas for some burritos. Yes, those nasty fried no-telling-how-long-they've-been-under-the-warmer bean burritos. With lots of taco sauce. Shelbi was even lucky enough for me to hand feed her; I guess she was just lazy.

Just before we fell asleep on the way home

Sober Shelbi

Saturday morning we got in my parents' hot tub to detox, ate another awesome meal (I have yet to step on the scale to see the damage) and left around 5pm for Dallas. Now I'm looking forward to doing it all over again for Christmas.

Sugar bread + milk = nutritional breakfast

About two weeks ago, my mom passed on to me a loaf of Amish Friendship Bread, along with a "starter" package and instructions. At first glance it looked like a big blob of a 1st grader's attempt to make sugar cookie dough in a gallon ziploc, so I was a little doubtful that the thing would actually turn out like it's supposed to be.

Ten days of mushing later, I had two loaves of cinnamon-sugary bread in the oven and surprisingly they came out smelling the exact opposite of its original mess in the Ziploc...which my nostrils identified as belonging to the same smell class as B.O., rotten milk and cardboard. Not to deter you from ever eating it or anything.

And sort of like a baking chain letter, I made 4 "starters" from my dough and passed them along to four other people: Leigh, Brook, Denise and Brittany. I even shipped Denise's (Kev's sister) overnight all the way to New York. Hopefully they'll all pass it on and enjoy it.

Here's the starter recipe. Again, I can't stress this enough....DON'T SMELL THE ZIPLOC GOO.

Pizza, prenancy and pictures

Last Thursday I met some of my girlfriends from Canada (well, really just McKinney and Coppell) at Fireside Pies in Plano. LOVE their pizza - it's the only type of pizza that I crave on a regular basis. Pizza Hut and Domino's are a disgrace to pies compared to this place.

There were only four of us - Jammi, Nicole, Erin and myself - but it made for a nice, quiet get together so we could catch up.

Jammi, aka "Supermom," caught us up on the busy life of Team Palmer. I swear, I don't know how that woman gets any sleep!
Nicole is about 4 months into her pregnancy and certainly has that motherly glow already shining around her. I'm so excited about Baby Minchey!

Nicole and Jammi

Erin let us all in on the changes coming up in her life and how excited she is to see how things pan out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her!
And I, of course, gushed about Kevin and how happy I am. Gee, what else is new?

Erin and I

We sat and talked for a while, until I realized it was 10:15 and I needed to get back to Mexico (really just Uptown). Thanks girls for a nice night out! I'm already looking forward to the next GNO.

We convinced a passerby to take a group picture

Wedding in the LBK

Welp, Candace Dee Hutto is officially now Candace Dee Hutto Norrod. Kevin and I had a long, exhausting, but fun weekend in Lubbock for her wedding. We left Thursday after work because Kevin had a dentist appointment with my dad (hello, white teeth!) and I had a bridal luncheon on Friday.

Brittany, me, Candace, Myndi

After the bridal luncheon at the Skyviews Restaurant on Tech campus and a dinner at Rudy's, Kevin and I had an early night so we would be rested up for the next day.

The cool table at Rudy's.
Quote of the night: Megan - "I'm going to eat my weight in barbeque tonight."

Saturday started at 7:30am (EEK!) with a rehearsal breakfast and presentation. Then we headed to the Merket Alumni Center on TTU campus for the rehearsal. After much debating over the cold weather (low 40s), Candace decided to go ahead and have the wedding outside. Then we did a little decorating for the reception and headed back the hotel to get ready and eat lunch. Sarah Ramsey at Terra Bella did our hair for the ceremony - if you're ever in need for a great stylist in Lubbock, I HIGHLY recommend her!

Curtis and Candace with the huge lure.
Curtis spent the day before fishing, hence his raccoon eyes.

Candace getting her hair did

Following a near zipper catastrophe (my dress, not the bride's thank goodness), pictures and the ceremony, we took more pictures outside for about an hour. I can't remember the last time I was that cold!! But I'm sure they will be 100% worth our freezing fingers and THO (Look it up in Urban Dictionary if you're unfamiliar. I won't go there without using an acronym).

The reception was a blast! Highlights of the night:

• The Chicken Dance, with lessons on freestyling
• I broke a wine glass and spilled Brittany's chardonnay all over my dress while announcing the presentation
• The TABC officer hit on every female under 35
• Being the awesome DJ that I am, I accidentally played an unedited version of 50 Cent's "It's your Birthday", which forced all the geezers to put on their ear muffs
  

Model face. He should be the one wearing the dress.

Matron and maid of honor

Candace and I, right about the time that the merlot was starting to taste good

My brother and I. He goes to Tech. Can you tell?

"Twerp, twerp, flap, flap, clap, clap..."

Muleshoe reunited, again

Nice boob grab Candace

After cleaning up the reception, Kevin and I headed to Jazz to meet my friends Amanda and Russell. Then we went to join Jennifer, her husband Brian and some other friends that were also in Lubbock for another wedding at BarPM. After leaving there, we made a run through Whataburger, got lost in the ghettos of Lubbock and finally fell asleep in a pile of yellow wrappers and ketchup packets around 3am.

Sunday had a slow start, but we enjoyed lunch at Caprock Cafe before leaving town (as to avoid the hairy food at Schlotzsky's in Sweetwater). Followed by some million-calories-but-worth-it DQ Blizzards in Baird, Texas.

Okay, who's next on the list to get married? Let's do this again!

An email chain that doesn't feed any starving kids or tell you who your crush is

Some of my friends often start email chains, mostly around the subject of happy hour, and they almost always end up in mass piles of side-splitting hilariousness sitting in my Blackberry email queue.


An exerpt from today's chain started by Lance, titled "I like beer":


Lance: Anybody up for $1 beers at Ozonas around 7 tonight? Bundle up, sit on the patio, perhaps cuddle with your shmoopie by the outdoor fireplace, smoke dots, people watch, laugh at the less fortunate??? Ya hurd me!?!

Kacie: Coldplay tonight baby, COLDPLAY!! :-)

Lance: You know how i know you're gay? You like Coldplay No offense Blaine!

Blaine: Hey Leigh...How many times did you go see Coldplay in concert because it was that freaking awesome again???

Leigh: that would be twice, my dear Blaine. Lance is just jealous cause he doesn't have the new bumper sticker you gave me. He knows he sits in his bubblebath everynight relaxing to the soothing sounds of coldplays greatest hits.

Lance: However many times, it just multiplies the gayness by that number

Blaine: Regardless...indirectly burning your girlfriend on her music preference...so not cool...I think someone needs to take their sleeping bag to the dog house and take Leigh on a shopping spree as an apology :) I think she'd love a super hip desk chair and a whole new wardrobe....just sayin...

Lance: Blaine, you're so pretty

Me: Kev and I are playing our weekly kickball game again at 7...and we WILL kick arse, which will probably make us very thirsty for cheap adult brewskies. We'll keep you posted.
Oh...and for those of you cool kids who think Coldplay is freakin awesome, because they are, and want tickets to tonight I can get four. If you're willing to cough up some cash. Valued at $400 a pop, including plat parking...make me an offer.
I'd go, but I'm saving up for a super-fly outfit so I can impress my date for the Lookout Software Christmas Party. Leigh, we're going to be the hottest meat that Texas de Brazil has ever seen.

Leigh: Nikki Bonds speaks the truth. Bring on the beef....rawr

Why I was always on the B-Team

This past weekend in Granbury, Kevin decided it would be a good idea to buy some staple groceries so that when we're back in a few weeks we don't have to go to the store in the morning; instead, we can just get up and cook bacon and eggs in our jammies. But Kevin put the eggs back behind his seat in the floorboard and we forgot to take them out.

Fast forward to five hours later when we got in the car to go get firewood. Uh oh. And he asked if they would still be good. I gave him that look. He suggested instead of throwing them away, we could throw them off the cliff on the lower edge of his property that backs up to the lake. Sure, I thought... let's act like rotten teenagers egging their frienemies' cars.


Let's just say that if we ever have kids, I hope they get his athletic skills. Between 18 eggs, he hit the rocks below almost every time. Me? ONCE.

Hi Mimi and Poppi!

My grandparents are reading this right now (I know because my mom just told me), so I wanted to give them a live shout out.

Hi Mimi! Hi Poppi! I love you!!

Jello, that has only been in the fridge for 15 minutes

My friend Leigh and I went to our first spin class last night. Another friend, Megan, recommended this place in Uptown called Spin4Life. I highly recommend the studio, although as I walked out after an hour of spinning a stationary bike, my legs gave way like jello that has yet to set in the refrigerator. I had to use both hands to grab the railing as I walked down the back stairs.

But for $7 per class, no strings attached, I think it's a pretty good deal. The instructor Keith was super nice, even after I gave him go-to-hell looks for the entire hour. Hopefully it will be my new found workout niche. Any takers on going with me next week??

So I'm no snake charmer afterall

But we DID have a great time in Seattle. We went with the mindset of relaxed, no-frills, spontaneous weekenders and I think we accomplished just that.

We landed in Seattle around noon and checked into the Hotel Vintage Park - which I highly recommend if you are ever staying in downtown Seattle - and they gave us a complimentary upgrade to a suite! Then we went down to Pike Place Market for lunch and ate a great cafe called Matt's in the Market. Kevin talked me into a fried oyster sandwich. Not my favorite, but I was happy to try it. I'm a far different person than I was as a kid 20 years ago, who wouldn't touch anything but macaroni and cheese.

We also went to a wine shop and did a wine tasting for regions in Italy, and ended up buying a bottle of one of the samplings. Then we saw THIS GUY

It was Halloween, but I'm not sure this guy dresses differently on any other day

We walked down the boardwalk for a while and watched the cargo ships come in the harbor and push the tiny tugboats around like they were rubber duckies. After some walking, we stopped at Fisherman's for some steamers. I'd never had steamers, but wowzers! They're good, simple and fresh.

musical genius

The binoculars that stole Kevin's quarters. He was so pissed!

That night we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. We had to sneak beers on in coffee cups...apparently if you don't wave it in front of the guards, they really don't care. It was so peaceful to stand at the helm of the ship and stare at the Seattle skyline.

The picture doesn't do justice to the view

Speaking of a view, Kevin gave the camera quite a pose

Do they all dress funny in Seattle? Again, it's Halloween, but I'm not so convinced otherwise

Okay, I know you're all dying to know about the snake. I'm normally TERRIFIED of creepy crawly reptiles who slither in coils, but I was feeling extremely ballsy and gave it a whirl to hold one. These teenagers had their pet python on the ferry on the way home and I insisted on holding him...several times. He crawled all around my neck and wrists, and never once made me feel threatened. Maybe snakes aren't so bad afterall.

Again, take note of the strange outfits in this city

I don't think I'll become a snake charmer anytime soon

Because of the time change, we got up really early both mornings and went to bed early both nights. Saturday morning we found a great "gourmet greasy spoon, without the grease" breakfast place in Queen Anne called 5 Spot. Then we walked back, which was a couple of miles, but we got to see a GREAT view of Seattle on the way back to the hotel.

The waiter at 5 Spot steered us to a nice break in the rolling streets of Seattle

We made our way back down to Pike Market for lunch and to see the actual market part. Very touristy, but we enjoyed lunch at Lowell's and bumped our way through the crowds. I might as well have put on my fanny pack and bought a Christmas ornament of the Needle, but I resisted.

That afternoon, Kevin noticed a wine bar on the map we had that sounded good. So we decided to check it out and spent several hours at Purple.

At Purple, getting to know the bartenders as shifts changed. Yep, we were there that long.

That night we watched the rest of the Tech game from our room (wreck 'em Raiders!) and went downstairs to Tulio. But that didn't work out, maybe because the menu descriptions were a little blurry for me, so we found a sushi place instead and were asleep by midnight, Pacific Time.

Sunday morning we went to breakfast at a coffee shop/cafe near the hotel and read the paper. Just before leaving town, we grabbed some last-minute clam chowder in Pike Market and hopped on our flight that afternoon.

Happy birthday sweetheart, I hope you enjoyed your birthday trip!