Our Sweet New Ride!

Last week Joe and I finally took the plunge and bought a NEW CAR! That's right, we are now proud owners of a beautiful opal sage 2012 Honda CRV :-) It's a little bitter sweet because the reason we made the purchase is because my 2001 Mazda Tribute just passed 150,000 miles (a couple thousand miles ago) and it's not getting any newer. Before time does the Tribute wrong, we decided it was more cost effective to get a new car and hopefully one with better gas mileage than 18 measly miles per overpriced gallon. I will however be shedding some tears when the Tribute finds a new owner... I have a lot of great memories with that car and I'm really going to miss it.

That's not to say I don't also LOVE LOVE LOVE the new Honda CRV. This car marks the very first brand stinkin' new car that Joe and I have ever owned.

Just handed our new KEYS!

We felt like such grown ups when we were finally given the keys. It was certainly a surreal moment for both of us. One week of gruesome dealership negotiations, test-drives, and paper work & a whole lot poorer, we finally walked out the door with this bad boy!

Beautiful Inside & Out 

All lit up at night

Fancy Screen in the Dash

 We splurged and got the leather interior with seat heaters, dual air control and all that hoopla that I continue to drool over every morning on my way to work now. This weekend we put the car to the real test... Costco!

Wholesale Junk in the Trunk

 Yep, it passed the Domestic Suburban Life test, easily fitting GIANT tubs of cat litter and cat food that our two cats are constantly running out of. I swear those felines need to hurry up and get jobs so they can start contributing to this family, such mooches. But I digress...

How else has this vehicle surpassed our wildest expectations? Well...

Cup Holders...

The cup holders ARE perfectly sized to hold a mini tub of Ben & Jerry's. Dear car, You had me at Hello...

But the real Piece de Resistance.... The Purse Test. Every woman out there knows what I'm talking about. You hop in the car to drive to your next destination and if someone is sitting shot gun you either have to awkwardly ask them to hold your purse or toss it in the back seat (good luck reaching your lip gloss at a red light). And now? Problem Solved!

Well hello there center console AKA purse holder

Hidden Purse! Sleakly stashed under your arm rest.

The designers of this car have thought of absolutely everything. And while we may be eating Top Ramen every meal for the next 5 years while we pay off this car, at least we'll look good driving to Save Mart to buy more.

Happy Birthday Trent!

Today, March 21st 2012, my nephewTrenton Dane Roach turned FIVE years old. He is officially half a decade old people!!! Yikes. You know when people start sentences with "It feels like just yesterday..."? Well, it really DOES feel like just yesterday Trent was this little munchkin in diapers who let you dress him up in teddy bear costumes because he was too young to know any better. Don't believe me?

Monkey Trent... 4-1/2 years ago

Yep, time's gone by much too quick, so celebrating Trent's big 0-5 was bittersweet. Kev and Trent came over to our house on Saturday night for a little birthday fun...

Decorations... Check.

Sports Hats and Tableware... Check

 

Crazy Party People... Triple Check

With all of the key ingredients in place and after all the cheese pizza we could possibly digest, it was time for cake. Mostly because we told Trent he couldn't open any presents until he had cake, and also because I wanted to eat cake. Let me clarify... I wanted to eat ICE CREAM cake. 

Cake Time!!

Whoever invented Ice Cream Cake... I applaud you. Because who has time to scoop ice cream AND cake seperately into one delicious bite? This just saves you time, effort and hunger... pays for itself when you think about it. 

NOW it was time for presents. Not a moment too soon either because he'd been begging to do so since he stepped foot into the house.

Presents!

It looked more like a wrapping paper massacre than a birthday by the time Trent got through it all, but I'd say he scored pretty big.

The Loot. 

I'd say Operation Birthday was a success. Trent left with a big smile and we did too :-D

OK, just one more quick throw back picture of Trent (and my brother)...

Trent & Kev

OOOOO Tainted Love

Friday night we braved the rainy weather and made it out to see one of our favorite bands, Tainted Love at the Fox theater in Redwood City. If you hadn't already guessed, they are an 80's cover band and yes, they cover the song Tainted Love. Obviously.

Who doesn't love the 80's and what it brought to society? Scrunchies, crimpers, neon leg warmers, the Rubiks cube,  not to mention Joey and myself... but let's not forget to give a huge nod to the musical genre that simply makes you have to dance. Like, obnoxious jump-up-and-down dance. Like, strap-on-a-head-band-and-jazercise dance. Like, hold-your-hairbrush-and-sing-into-it dance THAT's what I'm talking about and THAT's exactly what Tainted Love embodies. We've seen this band at least half a dozen times and every time is better than the last. Friday night was no exception.

The night commenced at the Patty Shack where we all met for dinner so we'd have enough energy to dance and sing the night away.

Burgers, Fries and Beer, Oh My

After dinner we stopped by Bobbie D's... AKA Diviest-of-Dive Bars. Located in the heart of Redwood City and conveniently sharing a wall with the local Bail Bonds, this sweet spot has all the terrible live music and Jager Bombs your heart could possibly desire.

Kendall, Me, Trinette & Lisa - Oh and Lucas

Thank you Luke for completely and effortlessly hi-jacking our girls' photo.

Then we were OFF to the concert! 

Tainted Love

Fun times. So, as we were jamming to the tunes... insert terrible picture of me dropping a beat...

Who sings this song? Yeah. Let's keep it that way.

Sorry as I said, amidst singing along I found myself (as I commonly do) making up words to a song. Not just making them up, but screaming them out. So I ask my friends, who are also singing, what the real words are... not one but ALL of my friends were clueless and making up words too. Have I mentioned how much I love my friends? Well, just to everyone on the internet can now know, the new words to Pat Benetar's "Heart Breaker" lyrics are... 

"You're a heart breaker, dream taker, baby maker, don't you mess around! Na na!"

Cary & Me

For the record, I don't think Cary was in the circle of friends who didn't know the correct lyrics. I'm pretty sure she can recite every 70's 80's & 90's song word for word with 100% accuracy and 110% jazz hands.

Me & Hubs ... as blurry as my lyrics

Another fabulous night with fabulous friends. Life is still good great.

Winter Weekend Fun in California

Here in California, or at least the Bay Area, we haven't had much of a winter. 70 degrees and sunny isn't exactly what you'd expect for the season, but we've certainly been taking advantage of it!

Here's what we've been up to on the sunny weekends lately... 

Hiking @ Pulgas Ridge

Almost every weekend we go hiking because it's so close and when you get to the top, the views of the bay are spectacular. The other weekend we went on the hike with my dad, stepmom Carol, and their dog Charlie. Not a terrible way to burn some calories and spend time with family :-) 

One especially beautiful and lazy Saturday we decided it would be a crime NOT to have some chips, salsa, and cold beverages. WIth that in mind, we headed downtown to Milagros for exactly that!

Chip Me!

Milagros is a local Mexican restaurant that has great outdoor seating, which is perfect for warm days like this. Plus they serve chips out of a gigantic bucket. What's not to love? Know what else they serve out of a giant bucket? ....

I don't always drink beer, but when I do... it's from a bucket

That's right! Bucket o' Beer! The perfect match to sunshine, chips & guac. Our friends showed up to partake in the day and along came Trinette and Mike's baby Kendall! She's absolutely adorable and always smiling. And guess who can hold her???

Kendall & Joe

That's right. Make no mistake, photographic proof that my husband is holding a baby. AND smiling. But seriously folks, how cute is this child?

I know what you're now thinking... how can you be hanging out drinking beers while this innocent, impressionable angel is around? well...

Kendall Rohrbach ... Nothing but Trouble!

She didn't seem to mind. But I do think she has a drinking problem. Don't worry though, I assure you she wasn't driving! We took her plastic toy keys away.

Oh man, our friends are hilarious. And what a great way to spend a Saturday :-)

Finally to top off our weekends lately, yesterday we decided to mix it up a bit and hit the sand for... Beach Volley Ball!!!

Beach Volley Ball

One of the local business parks has a couple of sand volley ball courts so we tried them out. None of us are very good but it was another great way to enjoy the sun with our friends. Cary and I obviously have some work to do on our tans, but despite the amazing weather, it's still technically winter and I'm going to use that as my excuse for my translucently pale pigment. Well, that and my Irish heritage :-)

Hope your winter is going as well as ours!!!

Oscars Evening Extravaganza!

Sunday night Joe and I hosted our (third?) annual Oscars Evening Extravaganza! Because who doesn't like to kick back, make fun of horrible celebrity gowns, and blindly guess the winners of movies we've never seen??? I'm a big fan of all of these things personally, so why not make that an excuse for friends to come over and join in the festivities?

$5 buy-in per ballot, and a delicious pot luck made for quite a night. I attempted making some Brie-Jam-Pastry-Pops that I found on the almighty Pinterest.

Assembly Line

A is for Average Looking

Looks nothing like the delicious picture I was trying to replicate. But brie, jam, and puff pastry? Of course they were still tasty. Those magical ingredients are bullet proof. Next time I'll just have to work on my artistic ability.

Now let's get down to business.. our feeble attempt at guessing the winners and food. And wine. Don't forget the wine.

Ballot, Potluck & Jackpot!

Winner winer... SUSHI dinner!

Not a bad little stash. Yes, that's a $20 bill. Our friends are high rollers. As for the entertainment... the evening ended up pretty typical... like an elementary school playground... girls on one side and boys on the other...

The Ladies' Lounge

The Man Cave

Turns out if you put a fully stocked beer fridge, some camping chairs and a TV in the garage, the boys will go missing for weeks at a time.

Needless to say, the evening was great! No, I didn't win the cash jackpot but the night was still fun. And the celebrity gown horrors did not let down. Maybe next year I'll actually watch some of the movies that were nominated! Or maybe I'll just put my $5 towards more Brie. Either way :-)