Presidential Treatment

One of the less-than-great things about my work is that we don't get President's Day off as a holiday. I mean, yes, they were the founders upon which this country was established but why celebrate that, right? ... So while I begrudgingly got ready for work on Monday, and the rest of the country was sleeping in to gear up for their day of fun, I was in a less-than-perky mood.

Joey of course had the day off too and was kind enough to wake up with me and pretend he wasn't completely glowing from his paid day off. I put on my coat, grabbed my purse and headed out the door only to be followed out by my husband, blanket in hand. I was confused to say the least, but he led me to the car and told me to get in and enjoy the ride! He gave me a surprise ride to work, tucked me in with the blanket, and had Starbucks and breakfast waiting for me in the car!!!! My day immediately got better and once again I was smiling. He kinda has that effect on me.

Unfortunately at work, the day kind of dragged. Mostly because I knew there was fun to be had outside of work and I was unfortunately not a part of it. Very mature of me, I know. But this was me by around 3pm...

Jen Givens, Worker Bee

Apparently that coffee from Starbucks wore off and I was feeling it. Well my husband, the same man that made my morning wonderful, knew I was having a hard time with the rest of my day and decided to change that, yet again...

Here's what I was greeted with when my ride came to pick me up from work that evening...

Joey Givens, Master Chauffer 

Yep, here he was, wig, sailor hat, blazer AND driver gloves all on hand to give me my ride. In case you were wondering, yes he had Hall & Oates blasting too. As if I wasn't already 100% happier from the day, he pulled out the kicker... my IN FLIGHT MEAL!!!!

Sliced Pears, Carrots, Hummus, Macaroons,  Ice Water & Daiquiri 

 I could not keep my jaw from dropping. By far the coolest ride I have ever had!!!! He even found a CapriSun-type Daiquiri  for me!!! And no mom, I did not drink the alcohol in the car.

But it would have been HILARIOUS!!!

Actually I lied, the kicker was in fact when I got home. Joey spent his day cleaning our house, doing laundry, and getting groceries JUST to make my day better.

So now my new favorite day of the year is President's Day. I can't wait to see what next year's non-holiday has in store for me!!!!!

Best. Husband. Ever.

Touring Joe's Homes

OK, the blog for this title might be a tad misleading. Neither Joe nor I technically own homes. Not even one home actually, we rent. So let me clarify... Today we went for a drive so Joe could show me (and now I'm showing you) some of the homes that Joe and his company have been doing the structural engineering for. Joe, also a structural engineer, works for a company that engineers some seriously amazing high-end residential structures. And being in $ilicon Valley, I'm sure you can imagine what people are willing to build.

So off we went!

Me and My Personal Tour Guide!

Buck Meadow Drive Residence

This first house was in Portola Valley, which has some gorgeous views and gigantic lots. I had to crop out the guest house from the picture because it didn't fit. And in case you were wondering, yes this house comes custom with a bedroom that has a bookcase, which secretly opens to a hideaway reading nook. No big deal.

Redberry Ridge Residence

Also in Portolla Valley, this little gem right here is actually a home that Joe's good friend and co-worker, Adam engineered. The owners just moved in and I'm sure they're having no problem settling in. I can't not drool at how gorgeous this home is.

Westridge Residence

This baby is another of Joe's amazing Portolla Valley houses. The property was fenced off so we couldn't get very close to take pictures, but you can kind of get the picture, plus there were renderings posted up on the front gate, so you can get an idea of what the place is going to look like. A 30' retaining wall, cantilevered steel beams, and seemingly endless diaphragm steps... this bad boy is every engineer's dream and nightmare all in one. It's going to be gorgeous when it's all finished.


   

Hamilton, Palo Alto  Mixed Use Building

To end our tour, we drove over to Palo Alto to see one of the bigger projects that Joe's company has been working on. Unfortunately it's pretty well covered with netting and scaffolding, but there's also a pretty cool rendering posted out front. Along with... Morris Engineering & Associates Inc. signage!!! Cheap plug for Joe's awesome company ;-)  This building is a steel and wood structure going up in the heart of downtown Palo Alto. Adam can also claim a lot of the ownership in the engineering for this one. Pretty fancy stuff.

It was pretty awesome to see so many of the buildings that Joe and his company have worked so hard to engineer. And while we may not (dare I say WILL not) ever own or live in anything so substantial, it's so cool to see it being built. I'm really proud of my hubby. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I married a genius. And a handsome genius at that! :-D

Panko & Sage-Crusted Pork Cutlets

OK so work's been a little hectic lately and Joe will vouch that I've been a wee-bit cranky from the stress. Thankfully the weekend provided some much-needed rest and recuperation, and I'm back on my feet!

Tonight's menu comes from our Clean Eating magazine subscription... Panko & Sage-Crusted Pork Cutlets. But the kicker of this meal is... wait for it... wait for it... I was the main chef! Joe had to work a little later so I got a head-start and started cooking up a storm! I've learned that with just me, and my good friend Pinot Noir, anything is possible!!!

Let's get cookin'!

Looks easy enough... right?

Flour, Eggs, Sage/Panko & Tenderize that Pork! 

Notice my neatly organized assembly line? And the motivating glass of pinot to get me through to the end?

On a side note: Joey got a Jambox for Christmas and now he can stream music into any room of the house with this nifty portable speaker, which means kitchen cooking dance parties!!! But wait, it gets better, he chose the playlist (maybe on my behalf, but MAYBE not!) and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun started playing. He thought I was taking a picture, but instead I got this little gem on video... Turn it up to hear the super manly tunes.

Have I mentioned how much I love my husband? OK OK, back to work...

Pork is fried and the Collard Greens are cooking!

I know what you're thinking... I make this look GOOD! And I do :-)

Plated!

 I have to admit, I kind of surprised myself and I think I blew Joey away. Little known fact.... I actually know how to cook, but I pretend not to so my hubby will cook for me ;-)  I'd feel bad if I didn't know he does the same exact thing when it comes to folding laundry. We're too alike.

And if that tasty meal wasn't enough for our spoiled tastebuds... Our landlords' daughter, Lauren, stopped by later to announce the commencement of Girl Scout Cookie Season!!! One of our very favorite times of the year!! Obviously to help dear Lauren in her conquest to earn the world's biggest stuffed animal, we had to go a little crazy on the cookie investment.

Dessert is served!!!

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get us a couple glasses of milk!

Tahoe Family Ski Weekend

This past weekend was my Aunt Karen's big 5-0 and to help her celebrate the big day, the whole family spent the weekend in a Tahoe together.

Friday night, Joe and I packed up the car and headed to the snow. We've started a bit of a tradition on road trips and we were slightly ecstatic for this one. The tradition goes as such... Anytime we want to pull over for a food stop, we have to visit every fast food joint at that exit. This way, Joe can get his McDonalds fries, which are immensely inferior to my Burger King fries, but we still get the Breakfast Jack, and Carl's Jr. Western Bacon Cheeseburger. We're never really able to finish it all, but this way everyone gets what they want. I'm pretty sure this tradition will not hold up once we have kids...

Jack in the Box, KFC, Carl's Jr, Taco Bell

I'm now adding an addendum to our road trip tradition... Tums!

Arriving at the cabin was shocking to say the least. We'd never been to this rental before and didn't know what to expect. Here's the front view when pulling up..

Big Enough Much?

Once we double, triple and quadruple checked the address to make sure we we at the right place, we knocked on the door and were greeted by our wonderful family! Then the tour commenced...  This cabin was like a palace. Three stories, six bedrooms, five baths, outdoor jacuzzi, big screen TV's everywhere, a family room that turned into a laser disco party space, and of course... an in-home move theater with 400+ movies stored in it. We were in heaven. Oh, and it was a ski-in/ski-out cabin, not that anyone would have any problem NEVER leaving the cabin at all.

Ten-Butt Kitchen

View from the main balcony - directly over the ski run

Joe's and my bathroom... Remote controlled shower

Disco laser party room

 Side note... none of us could find the controls to turn off the disco lights, so it stayed on pretty much all day and all night long. No one was complaining because who doesn't like to party?

The Piece de Resistance - In-home theater with X-Box

 We must have stayed up until 2am playing video games until no one could keep their eyes open any longer. But who wants to go to sleep when there's so much awesomeness all around you and a cabin full of family to share it with?!?!

We woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed on saturday and managed to pull ourselves away from the palace/cabin to venture out for some snowboarding! Joe and I haven't gone in years so we were a little nervous to see how we'd do. Well, we were pros! OK, maybe not pros, but we held our own and had a BLAST out there.

Beautiful day Boarding!!

We spent the day on the slopes with the Bernardos and the Garcia boys. By the end of it every muscle in my body was shaking from fatigue, but I never stopped smiling! The pain that tomorrow would bring would be worth every Advil.

That night Tony and Karen ordered a catered dinner to be served for Karen's Birthday celebration and we had the best time. I cannot wait to turn 50 if that's what happens! After dinner, birthday cake, and a couple in-home movies and board games later, we all went to bed to get some rest before Super Bowl Sunday! (This was the weekend that kept on giving!)

Super Bowl Lounging

Thank goodness most of Sunday involved sitting on the couch and watching TV, because I was too sore to do much else. I did however manage to squeeze in some hot tub time...

Rough Life, I know

 Pretty sweet day if I do say so myself. Then, to top it off, Joe and I decided to hit up the casinos for some gambling after dinner.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

We hit the jackpot and now we're filthy rich!!!! No. Not actually. I lost $40 and Joe won $10. Nothing too dramatic but we had a good time playing :-)

What an amazing weekend. And I'm not just talking about the cabin. I've got this amazingly funny, loving and good-hearted family and now husband. Not sure how I lucked out on that, but  I'm pretty blessed to be a part of it all.