Sleep Talking

I absolutely love it when people talk in their sleep. The joy of trying to egg someone on to say weird stuff when you hear some mumblings is fabulous. Sarah hardly ever talks in her sleep or when going in and out of consciousness. Recently she did and it was classic.

Sarah: Conked out on the couch.
Me: Ready for bed bed?
Sarah: What? You want blood on your nachos?

Then back to sleep until I proceeded to make sure she got into bed. Next day, no recollection of asking if I wanted blood on my nachos. I bet you all have some funny experiences of your own late night ramblings or those of spouses, children, and friends. Please reply and share!

So what?

So what if I have ZERO self control and demanded that we open Valentine's Gifts last night.

So what if my present was a little ghetto fab. (Mine is silver, not gold though)
So what if Patrick drank two of his present (cane sugar DP from Dublin, TX ) last night



So what if we're doing our "romantic V-day dinner" at The House with BFFs instead of alone.

So what if this is like the best Valentine's EVER. I LOOVVVEEE my necklace. oh yes, and my husband. I love him the most.

Amanda FINALLY Came!

What better thing to do while on your drive to Laguna Beach than blog, right? I don’t have a too busy excuse this time! Especially thanks to the MBB Card that lets me browse the web while sitting in the passenger seat. Except that means I have no pictures to add to the post. And it's REALLY long. Sorry!

So Amanda FINALLY came to visit last weekend. I’ve been begging her to come out since we moved here and since she’s leaving for North Carolina (in like 3 days!) she didn’t have much time to keep putting us off ☺

Friday
First stop, the See’s Candy FACTORY by SFO. We were assured the chocolate we consumed was in fact THE freshest candy available. The entire pound we consumed was proof.

After that, we proceeded to Costco where we indulged in Super Bowl size samples. Yes please, I’ll try the nachos. And the hot dog, and the popcorn and the potsticker and the chips…

For dinner, we went to THE best Mexican place in San Francisco. El Farolito. Hands down best Carne Asada tacos I’ve ever eaten. Between the three of us we consumed 9 tacos and two orders of chips.

What’s a Friday night without a trip to Bi-Rite, right? We finished off the evening with San Francisco’s finest artisan Ice Cream. Flavors indulged in: Coconut, Chocolate, Cookies & Cream and Vanilla Malt w/Peanut Brittle. All topped off with a little homemade hot fudge and whipped cream, of course.

Saturday
We started the day off right by sleeping in and wandering down to the Farmer’s Market. If I haven’t told you yet of my obsession with the Ferry Building’s Farmer’s Market, apparently we are not very good friends. We absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE going down to the Ferry Building on Saturday mornings to sample all the delicious fresh fruits, cheeses, toffee, etc. We left with a bag of chocolate covered almonds, a few tangerines, a Cara-Cara Orange (Never heard of it before, but really great), some lemons, some fresh parsely, and of course small-batch butter (so so so good). We also ate lunch at Rolli Roti. Incredible Porchetta and Carmelized onion sandwiches and fresh rotisserie chicken just like in Florence (and that's coming from Miss I spent a semester in Italy, Amanda, so you know it's true). I highly recommend stopping by when you’re down there. Mmmmm…

After a brief detour at the De Young Museum and the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit, we ended up at Burgermeister in Cole Valley for dinner. Yes, we had been warned it was overpriced and mediocre, but did we listen? No. It won best burger in SF we reasoned. Still, lesson learned, trust your friends. They know better than the awards people any day. Not that it was terrible, but if I’m going to spend $13 on a cheeseburger, I want it to be the best dang cheeseburger. And quite simply, it wasn’t.

Anyways, if you’re a true Saraceno, you can’t leave SF without a stop at Mitchell's—which rivals Bi-Rite as our favorite SF Creamery. While Bi-Rite’s Coconut is incredible, I think Mitchell’s Toasted Almond is my hands down favorite flavor ever. None of that almond extract crap from Fenton’s either. This tastes exactly as it should. Mix that with a little Mexican Chocolate and you’re in heaven. If you’re Lia, Linda, or Amanda that is ☺.

Sunday
Wrapping up the trip with a bike ride through Golden Gate Park with stops at the roller bladers and swing dancers, we took Amanda home just in time to miss the delicious Super Bowl food. Patrick and I grilled Ribeyes and fresh Jumbo Prawns in celebration of the big game. Not that I could have cared any less about the actual game, but spending the afternoon with our good friends made it a fabulous day. Not to mention Patrick’s commercials (1 & 2) airing!

Amanda—we’re definitely excited for you to go on your mission, but I have to say, I’d much rather you come and live in SF with us!! Thanks for visiting!

True Birds

It's about time I posted about Heather and Heidi's fabulous headbands!

I've just been waiting for the right moment to share--when I actually remembered to take a picture of myself wearing one. And now that I'm feeling more comfortable with photobooth, I've finally taken the time to do it!

I've gotten lots of compliments every time I've worn this. Love it, Love them. True Birds forever!! (FYI Gals, I'm dying for the peacock one Heather's wearing and the soft band Heidi is wearing on the homepage!)

No Bueno

I just panicked. Did I ever even say THANK YOU for my wonderful Christmas presents from the Larsens? I vaguely remember a confession email where I told you I got them but that's it.

I'm sick to my stomach.

Although, here's proof that I loved them. And you. Will I ever be forgiven?

Please don't disown me. I'm the only DIL you've got!!

WHAT?

Did anyone else notice the LA Temple pan shot tonight on 90210? Michelle and I could NOT stop laughing. Glad to see Angel Moroni getting some good coverage. HAHAHAHAHA

HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY!!!!

I know I have a lot to catch up on, but before I did anything else, I HAD to tell you all.....

Patrick got a job yesterday! At my Agency!! On an AMAZING account (that I can't say because I think it's technically a secret that we won it, but I promise it's a good one!). I almost just gave a clue but I don't want to lose my job...haha

We are SOOO excited. SOO SOO SOO SOO Excited. Not only because he got a great job at one of the best agencies in the world, but also because now we don't have to Move!!!!

I'll post about other excitements later. But I can't tell you how happy we are. It's been a stressful few months. And I apologize to those of you who didn't know he had lost his job. I just felt weird blogging about it.

Team Christmas Dinner

There's nothing quite like the Tonga Room at the Fairmont hotel. With a thunderstorm every 30 minutes, complimentary lei's and overpriced decent "Asian Fusion" cuisine and cocktails (Virgin Passion fruit Margarita for me please!) it was quite the evening.

Not sure if I'll ever need to go back, but I sure am glad I went! Especially when the photographer came around with this great pic and my own little picture on a book of matches. Classic.

Mere's BFA

*Photo Stolen from Mere

Last weekend I flew to Utah to attend the Opening (Insert Gala/Ceremony/Festivities as you deem appropriate) of Meredith Jones Hendrick's final show. Mere and I have been friends since freshman year.(I was going to upload freshman year pics but am too lazy to pull out the external hard drive right now)

We started the weekend off right by hitting up the Park City outlets where we definitely purchased matching dresses. Too bad we never got a twin pic.

That night, we went to her opening in the HFAC (up until Jan 11th. If you're in Provo, I highly, HIGHLY recommend attending). I have to say, I never doubted Mere's abilities and I think she's absolutely incredible, but this takes the cake. What an amazing final show. I'm so proud of her and everything she's done. (Plus, I'm nosy, so it was awesome to get to read a hundred personal letters and not get in trouble for snooping!)

*Photo Stolen from Becca

I know everyone wants to buy one of her gorgeous monoprints, but here's hoping I'm one of the first in line :) Have I dropped enough hints yet? haha.

I love you, Mere! WELL worth the trip!

Just a few More

Breakin' in the Party Dress

Oh yes. The infamous party dress. I LOOOVVEEE my party dress. And I got to wear it TWICE last week. When you calculate the CPW (cost per wear) it's already well on it's way to being justified :)

Plus, I got some sexy shoes to go with. There's no rule saying just because you're an old married lady you can't be a little sexy, right? The girls in SLC might say I was a little TOO sexy, but who's judging? Back off.

First thing's first. PSG Holiday Party. Quite a night full of dancing, eating, and chatting. I think most people dread their holiday parties, but not me. I love mine. Two years in a row now and I'm already looking forward to next year's! I think it helps that everyone is wasted and partying like crazy so I fit right in (minus the wasted partying part). The only bad part was the fact that numerous people commented on how they didn't recognize me and how GOOD I looked. I think it was supposed to be a compliment, but I was a little offended. You mean I don't look this good every day?! I had no idea I was such a wreck at work. So I owe Morgan a huge thank-you for helping me spice things up. (Seriously. I need you to teach me how to do this more often!)


Anyways. I didn't bring my own camera, but I have stolen proof of the party from my dear coworkers/friends. Not that any of you know them and all you really care about is checking ME out, so whatev. I'm waiting on a few choice selects to share with you, but these will do for now.
To help out those who detest long posts (Lisa), I'll separate out the Utah post.

Enlighten me

Am I the only person who likes lots of light on all the time? I go into a room and I want everything bright. All the lights on. Double lights in the bathroom, all the lights in the living room. Is that normal? I'm starting to think it's not. Because every time I'm with my family-in-law, they turn all the lights off except one. And then I'm sitting in the dusk (?) confused. Why don't you want it BRIGHT?!

PS: This is in no way an intentional call-out at the Larsen clan. I'm simply curious as to everyone's habits.

PPS: PSG Holiday Party, Correspondance Project, and Holid8 pics coming shortly. I'm having red-eye issues.

SHHH...

I definitely started my Christmas music two days early this year. I have a VERY strict rule that Christmas music begins the day after Thanksgiving and is in FULL effect until Christmas Day when I am cut off again for another year. But, as I was baking (that turned out as NASTY Soup pie instead of the normal pecan pie I make EVERY SINGLE YEAR. What happened??) on Wednesday in preparation for Thanksgiving, I couldn't help myself.

Now, just picture, The Larsens dancing around to Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is You" over and over again. It's times like these that I know I really scored. How many husbands would do that??

I LOOOOVVEEE Christmas Music. And I REALLY love that song. I don't care what any of you say. I won't change my mind!

For more appealing music, also check out "Maybe this Christmas". It's the best Christmas mix of all time. (Okay, maybe not all time, but definitely right now). Love it!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a fab Thanksgiving. Like usual, we brought a camera with us to Bakersfield, but forgot to charge it. Yet again another fun family weekend with no evidence. I promise, we had a blast and I LOVED Twilight. Can't wait to see it again!

*And apparently I'm in some sort of blogger funk. I can't write, I can't spell, and I can't think of anything to write about. :(

Fleshy Beard

Yes it is true. The other night I turned on the tube, checked out what we hadn't watched on the DVR, and chose to watch...The Hills. I can't get enough of the show's formula of: 

lame dialogue - cut to overhead of LA with cool music - really short lame dialogue - cut to overhead of nighttime LA with so so music - lame dialogue. 

I love seeing what Spencer and his freaky facial hair will do next. He's a train wreck.

Grr....

There's a very good reason I'm never going to be super skinny. That is because I continue to eat Thai fried rice for lunch, split a slice and dog at Costco and eat entire Ghiradelli Sundays without sharing.

What am I going to do with myself??