A Tiny Bit of Planning Ahead

I am trying to channel my inner Jennifer Baird. I keep thinking she is in there somewhere, being organized, de-cluttering, and planning ahead. It isn't working very well. Once in a while, though, I catch a small glimmer.

For example, I shoveled the driveway last night and applied ice melt just as it stopped snowing. This is a big deal for me. When it is snowing, I would much rather just sit by the fire with my book, but I was so happy this morning to rediscover my clean driveway.

I have also been feeling kind of proud-ish that I hung my Christmas lights last week, because I had heard a rumor that it was going to snow.

And although I am truly opposed to setting up one's Christmas tree before Thanksgiving, the boys will be with their dad most of this week, so I have wanted to have them help decorate the tree before the holiday. However, there is a big gap of non-lighting lights right in the middle section of the tree that simply refuse to turn on.

I am pretty sure that the tree-climbing kittens are not helping this issue.

[All photos and the post courtesy of my iPhone!]

Elliott is Seven

Nate and Elliott have been friends and cousins for a long time. Seven years, to be precise.

When Elliott was born, Nate was bigger, because he is seven months older. Nate is on the left, obviously, in the photo above. He looks like a giant next to Elliott, but they've evened out now. Nate is still that pale, though. The kids at school have been known to call him "Snowflake."

Like Christopher when he was this age, Elliott has a powerful fascination for Star Wars. Imagine Elliott's joy when Boba Fett joined his birthday party! Okay, it's his dad. But doesn't Ty look great? And how nice is Jango Fett's costume?

Nate isn't that into Star Wars, but Elliott said that his astronaut costume would work since it is utilized in outer space. Nate barely made it through 24 hours of antibiotics and woke up from his four-hour nap in time for the party. Strep throat is not fun.

Please don't tell anyone, but I gave Elliott's dog, Rocky, lots of treats. Seriously: would you be able to resist that pleading?

We have reserved the Star Wars bingo cards for many snowy days ahead.

Rebuttal

Perhaps you remember this post, in which I shared Ro's welcoming signs on his door.

Nate wanted to get in on the action, too, so he wrote and hung this notice on his own bedroom door:

In case you don't speak Nate's language, I will translate for you:

Ro, don't come into my room without my permission.

Harper, you can come into my room only if I say so.

Elliott, you can come into my room whenever you want.

There is now a little note at the bottom, from Nora, that says, "Way to go, Nate!"

Princess Jocelyn

Have you met Jocelyn, my niece? This is my favorite image of her from our recent family session in the canyon. I had quite an assortment of princesses to keep her attention, but she didn't agree with one of the options I had selected. Lucky me! I love her expression.

p.s. A new photography blog is in the works!

All About the Food

I was talking to Jenn the other day (have you read her blog? You really should. She is much more thoughtful than I.) and Jenn asked me if we did anything else while we were in San Francisco besides eat. Hmm. Let me think. Not much.

Presenting: The Food.

I really should have taken a picture of my Farmers' Market breakfast that this lady helped make, but I was too busy eating it. Have you ever had a butternut squash tamale for breakfast? You haven't? Please accept my deepest sympathies. It was amazing.

Matthew, Nancy, and I each had deliciously refreshing beverage with our amazing tamales, but I can't remember what was in it. Cucumbers. Melon? And something else. Delicious. Refreshing.

My mother is kind of an expert on all things San Francisco, as she spends several weeks each year vacationing there. Yes, she is a lucky duck. So when I told her that we really needed to have some seafood, she directed me to Tadich Grill.

I did take a picture of my clam chowder at Tadich's, and it really was tasty, but I can't seem to get over this problem I have: Market Street's clam chowder is the best in all the land. Unless, that is, you are craving Manhattan-style clam chowder, and then you must visit the Crab Cooker in Newport Beach. But Nancy's halibut was amazing, and I really enjoyed my Pellegrino and olives.

There are two places I kept hearing about from mom and Nancy that we absolutely Had To Go To. The first was Mama's Café. We knew we should have gotten there early, but we really didn't. We paid the price for getting there late in the form of a 90-minute line. Luckily, we traded off jaunts around the neighborhood (North Beach), where I found:

I needed a snack to tide me over until brunch, okay? It was a hard choice, but I went for a tiny palmier.

Back at Mama's, we were finally seated, and everyone insisted I order the french toast with lemon butter sauce. That sounded fine to me, but I almost became sidetracked by the Monte Cristo. I've never had a Monte Cristo sandwich, but just look at it:

Their version has turkey, ham, cheddar, and havarti cheese on it, and then they cook it like french toast and serve it with homemade jam. Decadent!

But seriously? This french toast, which they call "Pan Doré," was amazing. They slice a baguette very thinly, then prepare some kind of magical lemon-butter sauce, and top it with sauteed apples.

We knew we were in trouble after Mama's, because our very most important meal was that evening, so we walked a lot that afternoon to prepare ourselves, and had Matthew move our reservations an hour later.

Café Jacqueline is Mom and Frank's favorite French restaurant. Matthew, a waiter there, has become their (our!) good friend, and Jacqueline herself is charming and amazingly talented. The menu is limited to mostly soufflés, but I did try french onion soup and salad, too. It is a small, charming place that reminds you that dining slowly and waiting patiently while your meal is made to order is a great experience.

This beauty is our leek soufflé. I wish my blog had smell-o-vision, because then you could smell the leeks and Gruyere cheese. The restaurant is very dimly lit, and I had no flash. Thank you, ISO 3200.

See? It's Matthew again. Mom spent most of the night trying to convince him to come to Utah and spend Christmas with our family.

And look! It's Jacqueline herself in action, with a giant bowl of eggs, a Kitchen Aid mixer just like mine, and some kind of trickery that makes those soufflés incredible. She was very gracious and allowed me to take a few pictures, but I tried to stay out of her way so she could concentrate on our dessert: one lemon and one chocolate soufflé.

I'm not sure I can write anymore. I'm hungry. I must book a return ticket to San Francisco at once.

There was once place, in the Ferry Building, that I decided to skip:

Did I make a bad decision?

Happy Halloween

I know that I might be somewhat biased, but I think my Nate is the most handsome and adorable astronaut ever. What do you think? I'm right, right? He was originally planning to be a Ghostbuster, but that costume was sold out, so he chose this. I am glad.

Ro was not thrilled about having his picture taken in all his adorableness, and I believe he was actually trying to cause me injury here. I declined to purchase him a new costume this year since he is, after all, 13. He rounded up most of his Prince Caspian costume from last year and made it work.

He and his best buddy Ian (a fisherman!) met up with a few other friends and were out all night. That reminds me ... I need to check out his stash of candy while he's at school and sneak the good stuff. It will be our secret, okay?

While Ro was out collecting all the candy in the Holladay area, we had our own little party. From the left: Catwoman Nancy, Astronaut Nate, Jango Fett Elliott, Snow White Harper, and Jedi Ty. Harper almost had a complete meltdown when she realized that Snow White actually has black, not blonde, hair, but she pulled it together. I would also like you to know that Tyler hand-crafted, sewed, and fashioned his costume just before we went trick-or-treating. See? All that Project Runway watching has paid off.

Turns out that Nate is now a trick-or-treating sprinter. He ran from one house to the next, barely having time to shout "Trick-or-treat! Thank you!" before he was on his way.

It was a big night. I don't know about you, but I was most appreciative of that extra hour of sleep.