casacaudill

on aging

Because Alan and I have been together since I was 18 and he was 19, I sometimes have a hard time thinking of us in adult terms.  We've been together since we were practically babies. I look back at pictures of that time and think, "who are those two crazy kids?!"  Sometimes when I'm thinking about all of the things we need to do to the house, or our careers or basically anything that's overly "adult" I have these weird moments where I think, "how did we get so old?"  

Today we were randomly discussing something unimportant when Alan said, "Oh my God, I'm going to be 35!"  THIRTY-FIVE!  How did that happen?  Wasn't it just yesterday that we were being kicked out of Mario's on my 21st birthday?  And weren't we just in New York City for our 4th wedding anniversary?  And gosh, wasn't New Orleans like just two years ago?  Apparently not my friends.  Apparently, the years have been flying by and all those old people you see on TV on shows like Parenthood and Brothers & Sisters?  That's us (minus the kids, obviously).  

This year, we'll celebrate both our 9th wedding anniversary and Alan's 35th birthday on the Big Island.  And I'll try to forget that in just a few short years we'll be 40.  

 

On our wedding day, ages 24 and 25

Edited to add:  Here's one of us in June 2000.  I was 22 and Alan was 24.  Damn I was tan and skinny. :-D

 

A Cold Day in SF

A couple of weeks ago I was reading one of the few magazines I still subscribe to (Sunset, Better Homes & Gardens, Everyday with Rachael Ray or Martha Stewart living - I can't remember which) when I stumbled upon an article debunking common myths and misconceptions about the flu and colds.  One of the things the article said was untrue was that you can't catch a cold just from being out in the cold.  That made sense to me, after all, isn't it GERMS that get you sick?  Not rain or wind?  

Well, now I'm not so sure.  You see, after yesterday's walk around San Francisco my cold - which was slowly but surely getting better - has regressed and is flat out nasty.  Whereas on Wednesday I was able to talk for an hour at a time without going hoarse or losing my breath every third sentence, I'm now coughing every other minute - big wracking coughs too! - and I could be the poster child for all the symptoms listed in the Nyquil commercial - coughing, sneezing, aching, stuffy head, fever - it's all me.

But damn it was cold in San Francisco yesterday - surprisingly so.  I went into the city on Wednesday for an interview wearing just a cardigan and I was fine.  Warm even.  Thursday? Not so much.  Within seconds of exiting the BART station I was wishing that I had grabbed a jacket on my way out of the house - or maybe even some gloves and a scarf - because it was FRIGID down by the water.  I showed up to my interview with a red runny nose, and my hands had turned bright red from being so cold.  I was blowing on them in an attempt to get them warm so that when I shook hands with people they didn't think I felt like a corpse. Thankfully the person interviewing me was running late so I had a chance to warm up and get back to my normal skin tone.

I think the interview went well, so afterwards I decided to walk down the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building and treat myself to lunch.  Alan was meeting a friend in SF for lunch as well so I figured that was as good a place as any to waste time while I waited for him to finish up so that we could take BART home together. What a gorgeous walk that was - but damn, again, COLD. Lunch at Hog Island Oyster Company warmed me right up though - 6 Chelsea oysters and a steaming bowl of clam chowder made with carrots, bacon, celery, potatoes and fresh, plump clams.  Mmmm, good.  

All photos taken using the Instagram app on my iPhone, with the Sutro filter

 

Happy New Year

A White Christmas

December has been a bit of a whirlwind month here at casacaudill.  I've been busy interviewing for new jobs and we rushed to get our holiday shopping done early as we spent a week in Ohio over Christmas. Unfortunately the majority of that time was spent sick as both Alan and I were struck down with the flu and we continue to be sick here at home with a terrible cough, sore throats and lost voices.  

When we weren't sleeping, we hung out with my sister, her husband and my mom, watched a lot of TV and helped Jenny make Christmas dinner for about 20 people.  The turkey came out absolutely moist and delicious and best of all it wasn't fancy at all. We also made a ham in the crock pot because who doesn't love ham on Christmas.  Rather than give a big long narrative about our holiday in Ohio, here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

oh tanenbaum

I am really in love with my tree this year. The best part was that because we've gone faux it's easy to put up. And because I wasn't feeling overwhelmed and depressed this year, I actually had a good time putting all of the ornaments up.  

stop, cookie time!

It's that time of year again - cucciadati making with Alan's mom.

Every year we get together to spend hours making hundreds of Sicilian fig cookies that Alan's mom has been making for several years with her family.  A few years ago we started our own tradition of doing our own and this year Alan's brother Mark joined in on the fun (this meant I didn't have to do as much work so this was a very good thing).

When we were done baking cookies & Alan's mom and brother went home we rested for a bit and then finally made our way to see Harry Potter 7.  We both thought it was really good in that it gave you the same feeling of hopelessness and despair that the book did.  That said, that's not really something that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.  I can't wait until July 2011 so we can see how the final chapter turns out cinematically.

 

pretty girl

the big reveal

After working on these for days - designing, changing my mind, getting bad prints and then redesigning - our holiday cards are finally ready to make their way to the mailbox.  Just as soon as I get some stamps.

They're not fancy, they're pretty basic and similar to what we do every year (photo collage on fancy paper backing with colored envelope) but they do take a lot of time and effort.  I think next year I'm going with one of the companies I mentioned in a previous post to save myself the time and effort (if not the money).

french press

When I was working there was a Starbucks across the street from my office and nearly every day I'd have a triple grande.  Sometimes it was pumpkin spice latte, other times it was white chocolate mocha, but everyday it was a triple shot. Since I've been at home, I'm greatly reduced my caffeine intake but I really miss the ritual of drinking a really great cup of coffee.  On this cold, rainy winter morning I decided to fire up the kettle I got Alan for Christmas last year, break out the french press and make a nice, piping hot cup of Starbucks coffee (Pike Place blend). I really should head down to Blue Bottle at some point soon and get a bag of beans. Or maybe I'll check out Remedy since they're right here in the hood.

holiday cards, part II

So, my photos arrived last night (btw, what's up with the mail man coming after 5 p.m.?) and they were ... not great. The bottom was cut off so there's no white space below the text and the text itself is a pixelated mess. Don't even get me started about how the colors don't match what's on my computer screen.  I used the Pioneer Woman's 70s action on all the photos so there'd be a nice vintage feel to the card and unify all the photos across a common color palette. Ha! Instead of it looking all cool and retro it's dark and gloomy. The picture of us at Oaktoberfest has my face completely shadowed out and my skin tone is a lovely shade of zombie. I can attest that it does not look like that in the original picture. The strange thing is I've never really had problems with Shutterfly's print quality which is why I continue to recommend using them. I've written to customer service and am hoping that they'll refund my money. I didn't spend a lot, but it's $10 more dollars that isn't being thrown away.

In the meantime, I've redesigned the card to be a bit simpler and have sent the photo to a one-hour printer in the area.  I'm hoping to pick it up a bit later so that I can get these cards assembled tonight.  I plan on addressing them tomorrow and then dropping them in the mail before the end of the week.  Once I get everything assembled and ready to go I'll share pics of the final creation.

 

still need holiday photo cards?

I designed our holiday cards this year and will be putting them together & sending them out as soon as Shutterfly delivers the pictures I ordered (any day now ...). While I ultimately went the semi-homemade route by doing the design and assembly myself, I did consider going the pre-designed route and letting someone else do all the work.  Heck, some places nowadays will even address & ship your cards if you provide the addresses.

Unlike a couple of years ago today there are a wide variety of places to order from offering high quality cardstock and really unique designs - whether you're looking for fun & whimsical to classy & traditional or retro or modern, there's a card out there for you. Since I spent so much time researching our options this holiday season I thought I'd highlight some of my favorites in case any of you are still trying to figure out what to do this year.

The first option is a bit of a cheater recommendation because I am friends with the designer, Amber. Amber has been designing since I've known her, back in the days when we were on a wedding planning message board together and she was the go-to gal for beautiful animated signatures. She launched ::inababycarriage:: a couple of years back and has been designing beautiful baby announcements since the birth of her two girls. Her line also includes birthday party invites and holiday photo cards. A ton of our mutual friends order from her year in and year out so I can attest to the quality of her cards. In fact, I've already got one up on our card wreath.

Minted.com is a site I first saw advertised in Martha Stewart Living back in October.  Up until then I hadn't heard much about them except for the fact that they were a company that was doing a lot with crowdsourcing.  The company describes itself as follows:  

We believe that great design lives and thrives in the hands of independent designers that consumers may not hear about or have access to through traditional retailers. Our mission is to allow you to discover design genius from all over the world, while at the same time providing an opportunity for designers to build their careers on merit alone.

I found some of their designers to have submitted concepts that were derivative of designs I've seen elsewhere, that was a small majority in the overall offering. Several of the designs were absolutely gorgeous and if you had the right photo would make a brilliant way to deliver your Christmas greetings.  I found the pricing a bit on the high side, but you're paying for the designs which are universally really great. 

While we opted not to order our cards from Minted.com we are ordering our 2011 calendar from them on the advice of my friend Sarah who has ordered calendars from them (edited: Sarah ordered her holiday cards from Design Aglow).  I'm really anxious to see how the calendar looks once it arrives as it's totally unlike what we've gone with from Shutterfly in years past.

tinyprints is another company that offers a wide variety of classic, modern & retro designs for you to choose from. Whether it's one or four pictures you'd like to showcase there are many combinations to choose from. This company is advertising everywhere and there are a lot of coupons out there to take 10% to 25% off orders (depending on your final dollar amount). There are some real wow type of designs among their inventory, but unfortunately there is also a lot of stuff that you could get at your local Walgreens or Costco so I'm not sure the price differential would be worth it if you want something that's basic. I'm sure the quality is much better than you'd get with those stores, but one of the things I love best about receiving holiday cards is seeing all the creativity that is out there to represent our families so if you're going to go with a specialty card vendor I don't know why you wouldn't pick one of their more unique and lovely designs.

Are there any other sites you'd recommend?

looking back at jamaica

As I was looking through all of my digital photo albums to pick photos for our 2011 calendar I came across this photo and for some reason I really like it.  The funny thing is that it didn't make the first pass at editing so the master has been sitting, unseen, in a folder since March.  

I really love going back and looking at photos that are months - or years! - old to see if I still feel the same way about them or if I have new favorites.  I do that every year with our wedding photos and inevitably I see one that I really love that maybe I didn't when we first got them.

The Frames @ The Fillmore

Last night - a Sunday - Alan and I did something very out of character: we left the house to attend an event in the city.  Now, we often talk about how great it would be to do something like that but we never actually do. When it comes right down to it we're homebodies that like each other, like our home, and don't much like other people.  So we often choose to stay home instead of doing all the great things that make San Francisco and Oakland such wonderful places to live.  But not last night.  Nope, last night we ventured to the famed Fillmore Auditorium (mere blocks from our first apartment in San Francisco - and now, we didn't go there when we lived there) to see a concert.

The Frames is a band fronted by Glen Hansard, the Oscar-winning musician from the Irish movie Once. Incidentally, this is now one of my favorite movies.  Hansard formed a band called The Swell Season with his co-star in that film, Marketa Irglova, and they were playing in Saratoga this summer at the Mountain Winery.  We were going to get tickets but the concert was on a week night over an hour away from our respective jobs and there's no way we would have been able to get down there in time to see it.  Incidentally, this is also the concert where a crazy person jumped from the top of the stage scaffolding to his death right in front of the bad and the audience.  In hindsight, I'm glad we didn't manage to get tickets.

But when I saw Hansard's other band - The Frames - would be in SF over Thanksgiving weekend I jumped at the chance to get tickets.  And I'm so glad I did!  While nearly 4 hours on your feet is normally not my idea of a good time, the venue - The Fillmore - was spectacular for an intimate concert with this amazing music.  

Now, having worked in radio for a couple of years way back in the day I've been to my fair share of concerts. From Journey/Foreigner to The Barenaked Ladies to The Dave Matthews Band to Paul Simon/Bob Dylan to Jewel I've seen a ton of shows.  At one point I was seeing at least one concert a week during the summer. But never have I been this close to the stage for such an amazing act. I don't know what it is, but I just love Hansard and could watch him play/sing all night.  He's a man you can tell loves music and loves performing. So while my feet were angry, my knees were creaking and my back was aching, I had a huge smile on my face and my heart was happy. Definitely a great band that I recommend seeing if you like to hear a band really give its all for the audience.

Unfortunately it didn't occur to me to bring my camera since I had no idea how close to the stage we'd actually be, but I did manage to get a couple of good snaps with the iPhone.  And the video quality ain't so bad either.

 

 

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

While Alan was in the bathroom painting yesterday, I started decorating the Christmas tree.  This year I'm going with a bit of a funky vintage theme, similar to how I decorated the year my sister and her family came to visit.  We still need to add our special ornaments and candy canes (an addition for this year) and then the tree will be ready for presents.

thanksgiving at the casa

Originally we had planned to rent a cabin up in Tahoe and have the whole family come up and join us for the holiday.  Then we found out that people had to work today and that others had already made plans and we scrapped that idea. Good thing too, what with me not bringing home a paycheck and all (don't let anyone ever tell you Tahoe is cheap). Instead we spent a quiet and fun-filled evening with Alan's parents here at the casa. We made dinner, mother-in-law made the desserts.

This year we switched up our standard Thanksgiving menu a bit since we were only cooking for four.  And I did all of our shopping at Trader Joe's instead of Whole Foods which saved us a ton of money.   We skipped out on mashed potatoes since Alan doesn't like them and instead went with roasted parsnips, turnips, rutabagas, asparagus and brussel sprouts cooked with the turkey.  I was not a fan, but Alan seemed to like it.  Next year though?  Mashed potatoes. 

We also went a different route with the turkey.  Rather than roasting a whole bird Alan broke it down in the morning and we roasted the carcass and then made homemade turkey stock to use in our stuffing and gravy. The stock turned out really wonderful and flavorful and didn't require much extra work beyond what we were already doing.  Oh, to cook the bird we used the Tyler Florence herbed turkey recipe from the Thanksgiving issue of Better Homes & Gardens.  I was generally a fan of this mode of cooking the turkey, but if we do it again I'd skip putting the vegetables underneath as they were very soggy and I'd spend a bit of extra time crisping the skin.  After all, the best part of the turkey is the skin.

In addition to the food, we served a chilled Boujaleis Noveau from Kermit Lynch, some whiskey for my father-in-law (not a fan of the Connemara, it seems) and some Vouvrey with dinner.  After dinner we played Wii bowling, golf and Mario Kart and ended the night with a game of Scrabble.  I was victorious!

By the end of the night I was feeling very fatigued and had the chills and my whole body ached.  I ended up going to bed wearing a sweatshirt with the hoodie pulled up and two layers of blankets.  I woke up this morning feeling somewhat better but still not great.  I think I came down with that crappy virus so many people on my Facebook and Twitter streams were also complaining about.

Still, all in all it was a wonderful day and this year I have so much to be thankful for - not the least of which is my partner in crime, the yin to my yang, the wind beneath my wings, my very bestest friend: Alan.

Here's to hoping you had all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

All photos taken with my iPhone using either Hipstamatic of Insta.gram.