My older brother Nate and his family, my parents, and my grandmother all live in New Hampshire.  With Alex and I in California, and my younger brother Steve in Utah, it is virtually impossible to get us all in one place at the same time.  Right now Steve is visiting NH, and my parents sent me this great family picture.

We are looking forward to visiting NH in October. And there’s a slight chance Steve will be making a reappearance, so it’s possible we will all be together!

So, as we promised at 10:30pm we packed up and headed to the Richmond to Green Apple Books. There were a lot of people there…

So we decided to burn some time over at Toy Boat until it got closer to midnight. My absolute favorite thing is an ice cream soda. Chocolate soda, vanilla ice cream. It’s amazing. Alex prefers the ice cream sandwiches. Everyone has their own taste.

But I think they were jealous…

Inside was just as crowded as it was outside

But we were entertained by the kids that dressed up

And whatever this was (an elf maybe?)

We waited patiently in line

Even when the first folks were coming out with books

But our patience paid off! Court and I have already both finished the book (much earlier this week, actually).

Yes, I am a Harry Potter fan.  I admit it.  TonightCourtney and I are going to drag Alex toGreen Apple so we can get our books one minute past midnight. I’m a nerd, it’s true.

Whew. I forwarned you there would be mass amounts of pictures!! Sunday’s pix are more brief. We started off the morning with brunch (but didn’t make it to the restaurant until about noon, so that’s probably lunch…) atthe Park Chalet. We had some out of town guests, and were trying to show them a good time. Unfortunately we did not remember to bring the camera, so you’ll just have to imagine this part.

When we got home we hurried to put our dinner in to marinate (looks fab, eh?)



We took Milo to the dog park, then back home to finish dinner, and the laundry. Milo loves to get in the laundry basket … crazy dog.



Summer in San Francisco is amazing for food. Alex put together a cheese plate with fresh blackberries.




And I made the steak, cooked some corn on the cob, zucchini and summer squash, and this salad with heirloom tomatoes and panko-fried goat cheese.



Wayne joined us, as usual, for dinner. And our friend Bryton from SLC came by as well. Sundays we try to make a big dinner, and try out all our new recipies. We will be so sad when Wayne moves away to Portland this fall! We’ll have to audition his replacements….

On to Saturday. The first thing that ever happens in the morning is Milo gets a walk. But on weekends, he gets an extra long walk.



Alex walked him through our neighborhood



down to Golden Gate Park, and to theDeYoung museum. On Saturday morning it was covered in fog …





In the park you will always see a bit of Tai Chi…



Beautiful flowers are always in bloom.



And on the walk home we always make a point to pass by the Japanese Tea Gardens.



After Milo had his lengthy walk, we headed up to Sonoma County. We decided to go to the “Taste of Sonoma” for the day. It is only about a 90 minute drive north. The vineyards were so beautiful.



There were a bunch of tents set up with all kinds of amazing things to try.



For example, this fabulous looking seafood:



And this Thai Pork Salad



But not this! (I’m not sure what they were doing with these…)



We felt a little out of place. I think we were the only people there under 50. And Alex was so not wearing the Tommy Bahama silk shirt uniform. Yowsah. But it was fun. And so beautiful. Here are some more pictures of the vineyards.







And here’s a quick candid. We had fun just spending the day together.



On our way home we hopped off the highway and caught a matinee of Transformers. See, we’re not all haute culture!

Alex couldn’t help himself from taking a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge from out the car window. I must admit, every time we drive through it still takes my breath away.



After we got home, to the lovely fog (bless you San Francisco–it was 95+ in Sonoma) we met some friends for sushi atBlue Fin. They have the most delicious nigiri.



After dinner everyone came by our house for some M&M cookies. I found this new fabulous cookie recipe, and keep finding excuses to make large batches!

I need to preface this post by saying we just got a new digital camera on Friday. This little baby — the Sony Cybershot. It’s so small and light, we can take it everywhere.



And we did! So the following posts will illustrate our weekend. Let’s start with Friday shall we?



First off I came to pick up Alex from his office, otherwise known as “The Bunker.” Notice the giant whiteboard. He’s very excited about this.



We then walked from the office to dinner,Ramblas — so delicious. There we met Sara, who works atRemedy where Alex often freelances. (Sidenote, Remedy is also where Alex’s editor Gail is furiously working on his film, due to be completed this fall!)



After dinner, and ice cream atBi-Rite Creamery we drove over to see Nate and Court’s bandLove is Chemicals play at Thee Parkside.



It was an excellent show, with a huge attendance. Which truly makes for an even better time. Well, that was our Friday night … stay tuned for Saturday!

Though honestly, I like London so much it couldn’t have been such a bad thing.

(Confession: at least some of my forefathers were British loyalists, and fled to Canada after the revolution … I have to overcompensate for that shady family history with overzealous blog post titles.)

Anyway, we celebrated the 4th of July this year like good, red-blooded Americans, by barbecuing and hanging out inShawn andRobyn’s backyard. Here’s Proof:

I was driving in to work today listening to “A Hard Day’s Night” on the cd player. I had such a wave of nostalgia…

My earliest musical memories come from my father. My dad’s favorite music comes from the sixties, when he was in college. My dad loves Jimmi Hendrix, Led Zepplin, and the Beatles. Every Saturday morning my mother would make blueberry muffins and my father would play his Rubber Soul album on our record player.

The first concert I remember I was about 10-11 years old, and went with my best friend Jenn and her parents to see a Beatles cover band. They were playing in downtown Concord, New Hampshire. It was the closest to the real thing I had experienced at the time.

On Alex and my first date we went to a concert. We saw Peter Breinholt, who was a new local artist at the time. For the finale he played “I’ve Just Seen a Face” and we debated what album it came from. Everyone has a favorite Beatle, and this can quickly be a hot topic of debate for some, but luckily, Alex and I share the same choice….



For some, their Beatles phase is just that, a passing phase early in their musical experimentation. For me, it’s been a livelong love, and enduring journey, a place of peace and happiness.

Well, it took us a bit to get our photos downloaded and ready to post. But here are some of the photos from Chris and Amanda’s reception (unfortunately we forgot our camera for the wedding… so we’ll have to wait for the “official” photos).

Here we are (a bit blurry, sorry) enjoying the reception.

The happy couple, Chris and Amanda

The brothers, “striking a pose.” Not sure what pose… but they do as they are told.

Spencer and Alecia’s son Grayson stole the entire show. I just adore the 3 piece suit!

Here is Amanda and her youngest brother KC and “new” nephew Gray.

I had to have a little of that Gray too….

And here is Alex with a “de-suited” Gray, more comfortable than the rest of us!