Wrong Turn & Leftovers

I'm amazed again and again by how tolerant little Chloe is.  She lets Paige do just about anything to her.  I really think she digs being handled by someone who is pretty firm in their handling.  Chloe has been part of our family for just a little over a year now and she's the perfect addition.  We're so lucky!

On to lunch.  Another reason I love having out of town visitors is I always end up making way too much food......which means leftovers!  I love leftovers.  Quick, easy, delicious and flavorful.  Nothing better!  One of the nights my cousin, Victor was over I made T.J.'s Chicken BBQ Teriyaki with veggies and I had assumed Dominic was eating with us......well, he didn't.  And by now, you all know how much Dominic can eat.  Needless to say, I had a ton of leftovers.  YUM!

On a different note, if you're ever cruising around Sausalito and you want to drive to the Marin Headlands, here's a heads up. 

After my cousin and I had lunch at Scoma's, I thought it would be faster jumping onto the freeway from the south side of town instead of driving north through the town of Sausalito to catch the freeway.  Well, we came upon a stop light {that was green, apparently} which takes you under the freeway through a long, one way tunnel towards the Marin Headlands.  Well, on the way back through, after figuring out there was not a freeway entrance anywhere close, we once again came upon the stop light before the tunnel, going in the opposite direction.  But this time, there was a line of stopped cars.  I guess neither one of us noticed the sign that reads "5 minute Red Light" the first go around.

So we waited our 5 minutes and on through the tunnel we drove, again feeling like a tourist with my camera hanging out the window.  It was fun!

What if there's a traffic jam IN a tunnel?  What do you do?  Turn off the car? {these are the crazy things I think about}

Happy Saturday!

Marin French Cheese Picnic Grounds

I so love the Marin French Cheese Company.  It's about five minutes away from our house and it Rules for picnics on a nice day. 

The kids and I paid them a visit today.

Before we headed over to the pond, we stopped in the store so Bryce and Paige could say 'hi' to the cheese makers/wrappers.

A full house in the cheese wrapping room.  They also give tours of the facility but I think you need to sign up in advance for those.....maybe next time.

The store has all the necessities you need for a great picnic.

All sorts of flavored pepper jelly.  Can't you just taste this on a cracker or french bread with some cheese?  YUM!

A variety of flavored Champagne vinegar and tapenades.

Kozlowski Farms jams, jellies and chutney.

O'Niell honey

One serving, mini bottles of wine.

And regular sized bottles as well.

For our afternoon refreshments, I decided on this....

Bryce decided on a lemonade.....

And Paige on chocolate milk.

After sitting in the shade for a bit, the kids picked some little flowers for me.  Oooh, that reminds me, they're still in the pocket of my purse.

Then they preceded to throw pebbles into the pond.  You can also fish at this pond as well and as a matter of fact there was a man there with his three boys fishing.  I saw them catch and release 3 or 4 tiny fish...how fun is that?!

We'll be visiting again real soon.  Next time I'm going for the cheese, pepper jelly and mini bottle of wine!

Happy Friday!  Cheers!

Day trip to San Francisco

As you know from yesterday's post, my cousin is visiting from out of town.  Another day trip I planned for his visit was a Union Square day in San Francisco.  The Golden Gate Bridge is only 25 minutes from my driveway, although, I only drive into the city on occasion; for shopping trips or for a 49er game.

Any excuse to go drive into the city is great with me!

I pretty much plan that any day I go into the city, it's going to be overcast.  And as you can see, at 9:45 in the a.m., it was.  Always a good idea to dress in layers.

I definitely felt like a tourist on this trip as I was driving over the bridge, hanging my camera out the window hoping for a decent shot of one of the towers.

I was happy to see it was really busy in the city.  Lots of shoppers out there.

Cousin Victor standing outside of the H & M store with the DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse) and Nordstrom in the background.   Heaven!

I was totally excited that the sun made an appearance!

Beautiful St. Brigid Church on Van Ness St.

Heading back to the Golden Gate after shopping.

 

We spotted this vehicle as we were driving out and I'm sure it was making a bee line straight to Haight-Ashbury district. 

 

North bound towards Sausalito for lunch!

We decided on eating at Scoma's, which has great seafood and sits right on the water.

First thing's first....a glass of Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay.  I'm usually a red wine girl (old vine Zin), but for some reason chardonnay sounded really good on this afternoon......and I love Sonoma Cutrer! It's worth the $12 per glass that you pay at a restaurant.

I didn't have any bread and butter before lunch.....I wanted to save all the room in my tummy for......

Yellow Jack Tuna fish tacos!  Delightful!

Here's the awesome Ahi Tuna sandwich Victor ate.  It came with a side of potato salad and ginger.  He said it was delicious!

What a great day and a great visit! And thank you Victor for treating me to a birthday lunch :)

Happy Thursday!

Playing like a tourist

I love having out of town guests stay over for visits.  One of the reasons is I get to play tour guide and be a tourist in my own area at the same time!

My cousin, Victor has been up visiting from Southern CA for a few days.  We have SO much fun every time he visits.  On this trip, one of the places we decided to visit was the town of Healdsburg, which such a cute, artsy, quaint town. 

Outside one of the cafes, was this structure.....you can't really see from the photo but it's a teaspoon waterfall.  Water comes trickling down from the top of the structure, into the teaspoons that then tilt downward and on to the teaspoon beneath.  So cool! (my photos definitely do not do this piece of art justice)

Healdsburg has a few antique shops in the downtown area.  I love antiquing.  Never know what treasure I might find.

Loads of copper pots.

An antique coffee grinder.

I like finding unique bottles to use as flower vases.  Didn't find one on this trip though.

Look at this butter churn! 

Wouldn't this make a great coffee table or outdoor table if legs and a thick piece of glass were added?

Antique shopping (or any shopping) always works up an appetite.  We stopped at the Bear Republic Brewing Co. for lunch.

If you're a beer connoisseur, you would love this place.  They have a great selection of their own brewed beer and ciders too.

Victor and I had wine; I had Davies Old Vine Zin and Victor had a Pinot, my sister Lisa had a Pepsi.

Couldn't decide what a I wanted, a salad or a sandwich so Victor and I shared half of each.  Here is my half of the Cobb Salad.  So good!

And my half of the chicken, brie and caramelized onion sandwich....again, so good.

We ate out on the patio.  Lisa and Victor.

Victor and me.

Bye Bye Healdsburg.....until next time.

Happy Wednesday!