day 377

An ice cold beer and some time with old friends - what a great way to finish out the work day!

day 367

day 366

Made myself a Croque Monsieur for lunch today...

day 342

Today is my best friend Jody's birthday. Her annual tradition has become dinner at Old Venice. Here she is with a few of our crazy friends - this shot totally makes me smile! :)

day 332

day 330

Happy Turkey Day to all my loved ones, near and far!

day 329

I had a $10 date with Nanci today - we saw The Blind Side and then had lunch at In-n-Out.

It was so great to catch up with you in person, Nanci! Thanks for a great afternoon. I love you and am so very grateful for your friendship!

day 323

day 321

day 301

For my birthday, Nanci gave me a certificate to go with her to a wine and cheese class at The Prado in Balboa Park. It took place in a terrific little room upstairs from the restaurant. The owner of Venissimo talked about her the cheeses and there was a sommeliere who spoke about the wines she chose to pair with them. Afterward, we went down to the Prado for a bite to eat before driving home. There was a really good two-man band performing in the bar so it make for great atmosphere.

Thank you so much Nanci, for the thoughtful and FUN gift! I hope that we do make it a tradition and will plan to sign us up for something for your big day in May. I love you lots and lots! :)

day 296

side note... I can't believe I have been doing this for 297 days already! Wow!

I am drinking cheap red wine at the airport bar, en route to NYC. I can't wait to get there and stuff my face with some real, live NY pizza pie!

Shot with my Palm Treo.

day 277

Last weekend Arijana and I went to Trader Joe's to do a bit of shopping. She recommended these frozen pastries that have chocolate inside. You leave them out overnight (to rise) and the bake them in the morning for about 20 minutes. All week long, I forgot to leave those little guys out but I finally remembered last night. O-M-G. Fantastic!

day 276

I had a date tonight with Holden (and Robyn and Hannah too!) for dinner at Macaroni Grill. It was such a fun surprise to get to hang out with them! The kids are so much fun and I love it when Holden gets giggling - it is too cute.

Thank you Elsmores! I love you so, so much!

day 273

Too bad I didn't have my 'good' camera. We had a fundraiser at Rubio's tonight and there was a brief rain. The kids were so excited to discover the rainbow...

day 268

Jody, Taylor and I went out for happy hour after work tonight at Oggi's near school. For the second time in a row, one of my students was there with his family and they bought us shots. :) We made a toast to all them and all of the other 'good apples.'
Great big thanks to you Everly family, for lifting us up at the end of a rough week.

day 265

I met Carlisa tonight for some wine and cheap food at Apertivo in North Park. We don't see much of each other these days so it's always so much fun to catch up.  Thank you luv, for getting me out of the house and introducing me to another great spot for happy hour! I am so very grateful for your friendship and can't wait to get back on foreign soil with you! :)

For more photos, click here.

day 264

We had another 'family dinner' with some LdV families tonight to watch Monday Night Football.

day 263

For dinner tonight I made fettuccine with meatballs and a creamy tomato sauce. Yum!

day 260

I am afraid of spiders. I do not like them and generally try to step on them if I can. I know it's wrong.

Today, we saw this spider on the lockers as we were walking back to the classroom after lunch. It was really hard for me to get in close to shoot it but I did! You may be glad to know that my foot never got near him.

On a much more pleasant note, Jody and I went out for some wine, cheese and conversation at Extraordinary Desserts. Yum.

day 258

Funny what a photo can reveal for you... I have eaten this ice cream for years and years. It's my very favorite. I never realized that it had chocolate flavored chips in it until I looked at the lid in the photos. What does that even mean?!