Costco Muffins

So I've been having costco muffins off and on since I can remember.  Church functions, family gatherings, random school things, camping etc.    And they've always come the same way - 4 chocolate, 4 poppy seed and 4 blueberry.  I noticed over the years that they have changed up the flavors - maple, apple, and most recently - pumpkin!  

Well, hold onto your seats kids.  Nick and I went to costco to pick up some muffins for the Tahoe ski trip.  And this going to blow your mind - it's mix and match.  And to be honest.  I don't know how I feel about that.  They come in packs of 6 - all the same flavor.  Then you pick your TWO favorite and put them in a box.  So here's the thing, Nick and I spent far longer than necessary trying to determine which 2 to get.  Had we been allowed 3, it would not have been a problem.  I propose selling them in packs of 4, so I can mix match my own 3 flavor 12 pack.  

So costco, I'm not too fond of this.  Clearly didn't bother me enough to keep from purchasing - although I did so grudgingly.

Playing hooky

The boss (work boss), organized a group trip to Dodge Ridge on Monday.  It was for his church, but he invited work people.  I took full advantage.

And it was AWESOME!

First of all, we were like the 10th car there.  And then we parked and literally walked 50 feet to the lift ticket place and then another 50 feet to the lift.  None of this hiking up the hill, getting warm, peeling of layers business...I'm talking to you - the switchback hill at Summit Central.

It was incredible.  And did I mention no one was there?  Yeah, it was empty.  We were in heaven.

We topped it off with a bread bowl at lunch, followed by some light snow.

The boss picks good days to go skiing.  Probably why he's the boss.

Moch held down the fort.  Thanks Moch.

We're headed to Tahoe this weekend.  Check back next week....I think my quads will have grown a few inches by then.

Week in review

It was a pretty lazy week.  I spent Thursday at Berkeley doing some recruiting.  We recruit with Lockheed, so I'm wearing my blue Lockheed polo in the picture below.  I'm also holding Mochi.  He's so freaking huge.  I realize I'm not the tallest person....but let's be honest, he's really big.

We had some visitors over to help us bake a cake.  Don't worry, Nick was a foot away, and standing guard to make sure the girls didn't fall off the "stool."  The best part was when they stole licks of the frosting.  How can you not laugh?!   After the cake making festivities we headed to Rockridge for an engagement party.  For the most part it was good times.

Sunday was Pretzel day!  It was incredible.  Auntie Anne's should look out.  Caresse Jerue could give her a run for her money.  And Caresse will never divulge the secret ingredient.  Incredible.  That's all I can say.  

Post-its

I'm a little OCD and it comes out from time to time.  

When I was little, I washed my hands repeatedly and I would only use "non-toxic" pens and crayons.  Kinda weird, but I grew out of it.

I don't like getting my hands sticky, and as a result, I can't stand scooping ice cream from a container that is less than half full.  Might get the knuckles sticky.....sick.

And the newest one.  I was sitting in a class where we were suppose to write on post its and put them on the wall.  By the way, these post-its were 4x6 and lined.  The girl in my group (who was very nice) chose to write HUGE and not straight.  As a result, she had crooked words on lined post-its and used at least 4-7 lines per word.  What a waste!  And it drove me nuts.  Please, use a fine tipped pen (sharpie will do) and please at least write straight and try and fit a few more than 3 words per post-it.  She also hung the post-its crooked.  She shouldn't be allowed to have them.  She doesn't understand.

House guests!

Last Sunday the girls came over and dropped off a hot chocolate pitcher.  It was incredible - we used the chocolate

 from Europe and I was on a sugar high after a single sip.  They dropped in mid guitar hero, so we had to teach them how it worked.  Both girls got a turn. Below is a picture of Zoe jamming with uncle Nick.

When we were cleaning up, mochi ended up in a box...it's just a funny picture.

Brian - grad school roommate, recently got a puppy.  He was headed out of town for the weekend so we watched little Duncan.  

Napping after a LONG day of playing.  

Mochi staring at Duncan from his perch on the couch.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It only took us 19 hours to drive from Livermore to Seattle.  We did it in 1 trip.....well, Nick did it in one trip, but I stayed awake and kept him company the whole time.  Mochi, on the other hand, slept the whole way.  As you can see, Stace was very happy to see the little fella..

Mochi is the spoiled grand-puppy.  He got so many toys and treats!  Including this little rally monkey.  He also got a tennis ball the size of a grapefruit.  And my grandma got him a seatbelt, safety first!

One of the Christmas traditions on Nick's mom's side, is the beer exchange.  Everyone brings 12 random beers and they dump them on the floor and take turns picking their favorites.  It's a lot of beer.  Thank goodness we drove....Not because we were going to drink them on the drive home, but because we couldn't take them on the plane.

We tried for a Christmas photo....this is all we got.  We can't take a serious photo together to save our lives.

Some of our friends from high school, Karen and Mike, got engaged.  They had an awesome engagement party and we got to see a lot of our friends from high school.  We also got to play rock band, which was awesome.  I need some drums, stat.  (Above Front: Sarah, Cath, Karen, Greta, Me, Mike.  Above Back: Nick and El Granto).

The drive home was much faster - almost 6 hours faster.  Mochi got up from a nap, just in time to get his picture snapped.  That tongue is way too long.

And here he is napping.  He napped most of the way and stayed in the back seat, thanks to the puppy seat belt.  Thanks again g'ma!

New Year's resolution (among others) - one blog post a week, posted by Monday.  We'll see how long that lasts.

Leiden

We decided to visit Amsterdam because our high school buddy, Charlie, was studying abroad in Leiden.  We spent a few days with him....and even some impromptu days after missing our flight (due to a broken train....not poor planning).

The funniest thing we saw was the Dutch version of Santa and his elf.  It's sinter klaus and black Pete.  That's right, BLACK Pete.  So wrong.  Kids run around with their faces painted black.  And the story goes, that if you're bad, Black Pete will steal you and take you to Spain.  Which is suppose to be bad.....I guess Sinter also lives there.....not a fan of the north pole I suppose.

Did I mention it snowed while we were there?  Yeah, not prepared for that.  Oh well.  It's cool.

Food in Europe

Did I mention that we ate our way through Europe?

Amsterdam is known for a few things: drugs, prostitution and BEER!  So after the Van Gogh museum, it was time for the Heineken museum.  You typically get 2 glasses of beer on the tour, but Nick got 4.  Ever try and find a public restroom in Amsterdam?  Not easy.  But 0.30 Euros in a McDonalds will do the trick.

We ate Pomme Frites - fries served in paper cones....they prefer mayonnaise.  I prefer ketchup....how American of me.  

We ate Oliebolloens.  Fried dough sprinkled with powdered sugar.  The powdered sugar got everywhere, including Nick's face and my black jacket.

We saw a restaurant that served the best soup (probably) in Brussels, but didn't want to chance it.

We ate (probably) the biggest bowl of spaghetti I've ever seen in a pub.

And we had waffles with ice cream and chocolate for dinner.  I know my mom would be proud.  Screw vegetables!

Amsterdam

Amsterdam 2008

Nick and I decided to go on a little impromptu trip.  

We left Livermore around noon, with just our backpacks.  We took KLM from SFO and I highly recommend the airline.

1.  Meals were pretty darn good.  They came with a warmed roll AND we got chocolate ice cream about midway through the trip.  And it wasn't light, non-fat or slow churned - it was fatty-sugary deliciousness.

2.  Movies!  Get Smart and Baby Mama.

3.  Did I mention there was no one on the flight and I got to lay flat on my back to sleep?

  Awesome!

We arrived in Amsterdam at 10AM (1AM PST).  The customs agent asked if I was on holiday and I giggled....yeah, so mature.

The train from the airport to Amsterdam was very quiet - BART could probably learn a thing or 2.

The hotel was adorable - and by hotel, I mean a 2 bedroom house.  But it was awesome and we highly recommend it for anyone on "holiay" to Amsterdam.

Despite the complete lack of sleep we were determined to stay up and get on the European clock!  We headed to the Anne Frank Museum and took a small detour at Cafe t'smalle.  Our first (of many on this trip) Rick Steves recommendations and it didn't let down.  Small sandwiches and a coke for Nick and a white coffee for me.  Don't let the name fool you, white coffee is actually light brown and EXACTLY like a latte.

The Anne Frank museum is actually in the house/attic the Franks lived in for a good part of WWII.  Quite moving and very well done.  Unfortunately no pictures were allowed.

We eventually wandered into the red light district.  Quite fascinating.  Imagine store fronts with mannequins, but replace the mannequins with women in lingerie.  

2.  

The next day we visited the Van Gogh museum....again, no pictures allowed.  Does the Van Gogh museum know that they allow photos in the Louvre?  I'm just saying.

We also took some time to take the obligatory shadow picture.