Well, hello there, 30!

And there it is. One moment you're a 20-something and then suddenly midnight arrives and you're not. Waking up 30 looks a lot like waking up 29 but nothing like 20. 

I've had conflicting emotions about it, and today, on the day of, I still do, but I don't think it has much to do with some "loss of youth" complex. In the last year I met met a man and married him, walked away from my career, and forfeited my deep identity as a Californian to start a new life in Kansas City. Today, not only am I turning 30 but I'm packing for tomorrow's flight back to California and working through last minute details for our wedding. I'm job hunting in my new city and preparing to start a business with my new husband. It's a lot to take in! 

I can't really be upset about starting a new decade of life when I look back at how much I packed into the last one. I graduated from college, traveled all over the world, kick started my corporate career while maintaining a photo business on the side, and one of the brightest highlights - I got to experience becoming an auntie... twice!

Waking up 30 looks a lot like waking up 29 but nothing like 20. And that's a damn good thing! 

My love made me breakfast in bed - he's a keeper!

Skydiving in Santa Cruz

Last month I surprised the beau for his birthday with skydiving in Santa Cruz! He had been saying for months that he desperately wanted to do it, and I kept insisting he wait until after the wedding, but I started to feel guilty for being such a downer when I've been twice before. 

The place I jumped in Lodi was only $100 a pop, but that's largely because you're jumping over farmland and they get a higher volume of jumpers. The jump in Santa Cruz ran me nearly $300 for the highest possible altitude and photos. We were disappointed to find that they haven't been allowed to do beach landings in a year, but regardless, the scenery is mind blowing - ocean on one side, forest on the other - and it was a great way to experience a first jump!

The beau had never been to Santa Cruz, so after skydiving we headed to the boardwalk and had beers and burritos at a little taqueria. I'd say he was a very satisfied birthday boy!

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, SFBay.CA!

Last night SFBay celebrated their first year of publication at Salle Piano & Events with the help of an overwhelming number of contributors, readers, friends and sponsors. 

If you haven't checked out their website yet, please do! SFBay's coverage of Bay Area news, events and interests is impressive, and their staff happens to be stacked with some of my favorite professors from my good ol' days at San Francisco State's school of journalism.

Wine Cork Birdhouse

Sometimes I get these bursts of creative energy, usually after perusing the internet and shouting out, "That costs how much?! I could make that!" Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't, but oh how I have fun trying.

My latest crafty venture was this wine cork birdhouse! My grandmother collects birdhouses, which are mostly displayed along her wraparound porch. All the family will be gathering Sunday to celebrate her birthday, so I thought this would be a fun little gift to bring along. I'm wishing I'd included some sort of wire hang for it, but she mostly places them on the porch alongside her flower beds, so I suppose it's just fine without.

Supplies:

Bag of assorted moss by Ashland

Two 6x6 wood squares by Art Minds

45 wine corks and 1 champagne cork

Hot glue gun

Instructions:

- Line up the corks next to the bottom wood square before you start gluing.

- Try to keep the glue lines toward the inside so it won't squish out and become visible.

- Glue bottom row of corks to wood square, reinforce with extra glue on the inside.

- Leave space for a door on the front.

- Glue second row of corks to first row of corks, reinforce with extra glue on the inside.

- Glue three corks laying down in the doorway as a perch.

- Glue second wood square to the top of the birdhouse.

- Glue champagne cork chimney onto roof.

- Glue as much moss as you'd like on the roof, allowing some to hang down slightly to cover any gaps where the roof wood square is not flush with the corks (this will happen since they're not all going to be the exact same size).

Gluten Free Cupcakes

I just realized I never posted about these gluten free cupcakes I made for my coworker's birthday! 

Okay, well, let me just say before you get too proud of me, that I didn't make them from scratch. I had tossed the idea around but wound up deciding that since gluten free baking requires entirely different ingredients from traditional baking, none of which were previously in my kitchen, and because I only had one evening with which to throw these together, there simply wasn't time to buy all the necessary goodies and risk the first batch not turning out. There is a wonderful little gluten free grocery store near my work where I managed to find a cake mix. I got the yellow cake mix and added some almond extract for flavor, tossed out the frosting mix that came with it and made a basic sugar frosting mix with vanilla extract. I topped off the cupcakes with fresh blueberries and refrigerated them overnight. 

To make the "Happy Birthday" banner I used a toothpick, scrapbooking paper and a gold paint pen. I used one level of a cupcake tower and paper shreds for presentation.

I'm definitely inspired to do a bit of ingredient shopping next time I can get over to that shop so I can start practicing gluten free baking from scratch.

 

Spice Cupcakes

Somehow my coworker Lynda made it to her 30's without realizing that women get a full week to celebrate their birthday! After all these birthdays of only allowing herself one day of birthday fun, we've been stretching her birthday out at the office. 

Today I brought her cupcakes with plenty to share. She wanted carrot cake so I made a first ever try of it last night and couldn't get them to turn out. I think the carrot shreds were too big? After running out of carrots I went for a spice cake instead, but still topped them off with cream cheese frosting and sugar sprinkles.

Birthday Weekend

My goodness, turning 28 has been fun!

Friday evening a friend came into the city for dinner, drinks and a sleepover at my place. It was my millionth time dining at Dosa, but first time at their Fillmore location. I've always been afraid to branch out beyond their restaurant on Valencia because I was afraid it might ruin a good thing. I'm sure glad I did, because the Fillmore location is about five times the size and the decor is to die for!

 

Saturday morning, we headed downtown for Yoga for Hope, San Francisco's annual yoga fundraising event for City of Hope, a brilliant research and treatment hospital in Southern California, specializing in cancer, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. It was an unbelievably sunny day in Union Square, perfect for sweating through a couple hours worth of yoga workshops and demonstrations. There were a handful of sponsor booths with samples. Worth mentioning were the chocolate flavored Zico coconut water - holy cow! And the fig-blueberry-wheat grass smoothies at the Whole Foods booth - oh yum!

After Yoga for Hope, I hopped over the bridge to Oakland to attend the annual fundraising dinner for Little Flock Children's Homes near Chennai, India, which my Aunt Viji started. There are currently 48 children living there, many of whom were orphaned after the 2004 tsunami. Little Flock's mission is not to have the children adopted but to raise them in a Godly, family-like environment and to provide academic and career opportunities to them as young adults. 

Sunday morning I met up with a few friends at The Phoenix Hotel for a Sunday Funday event called The Do Over. Even though we RSVP'd, we stood in line for ages. Thanks to the liquor store across the street, we didn't mind.

This morning there was delivery of Mrs. Field's cookies from my parents, one coworker brought me flowers, and another bought me a burrito for lunch- heck yes! I had to "work" late, but who could mind when the extra hours entailed entertaining guests and industry professionals at our kick-off party for San Francisco Cocktail Week!

 What more could a girl ask for? I am oh-so blessed by the people in my life! Cheers to another wonderful year shared with all of you!