Blast From the Past Week 10

October 2005. COV&CORE Halloween Party. These were our cheesy costumes from a few years back. There was apparently a big Batman theme going on that year. Needless to say, it was probably one of our most creative costume years ever. That year we diverted from our usual digital picture scavenger hunt all over Vallejo and did a progressive dinner theme, where people were assigned to homes for dinner and met up at a single home in the end for dessert. I believe John Caguin won the best costume that year for his "Jack" of Jack in the Box costume.

4 Month Anniversary

On Monday Becks and I celebrated our 4 month wedding anniversary. Time indeed does fly. Not too long ago we were just married, and within the next month will be a year from when we first started dating. Proverbs 18:22 says "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." Indeed I have found great favor from God with Becks.

I remember a brother once reminding me, "you don't date to marry, you marry to date." What a perfect way to date your wife by celebrating monthly the date on which you got married. It's something we both look forward to every time the 16th rolls around on the calendar. We celebrated by getting each other gifts and going out to dinner at Celadon in Napa. I kept our dinner location a surprise, and despite having grown up in Napa, she had never eaten at Celadon. The restaurant was very nice and quaint, dimly lit, quiet, and decorated with European style artwork. My only gripe was having to sit only a couple feet away from the next table, so conversations weren't too private. But as for the food, I tell you, this probably the best meal that we've ever eaten. Becks would agree to that!

For appetizers Becky had the endive and pear salad with blue cheese, candied walnuts and honey mustard vinaigrette and I had the maine crab cake with frisée salad, gazpacho sauce and black pepper aïoli. The crab cake was unlike anything I've ever tasted before.

For the main course Becky had the special for the day, which consisted of wide noodle pasta mixed with vegetables and grilled sliced ribeye on top and I had the roasted chicken breast with baby basmati rice, broccolini and szechuan sauce. My chicken was very tender and succulent and the broccolini was very tasty. Becky's pasta was also killer. Let's just say that we'll be experimenting with putting steak on our pasta at home.

For dessert Becky had the vanilla bean crème brûlée with caramelized bananas and I had the
celadon bread pudding with grand marnier crème anglaise. Man, this bread pudding was awesome.

Thanks again Har for recommending this place. TripAdvisor rated this place #1 of 155 restaurants in Napa.

GO CELTICS!!!

The Three Amigos. The Boston Three Party. Three's Not A Crowd. Tres Leches.

2008 COV/CORE Monterey Bike Trip

This past Saturday we took the COV/CORE group biking in Monterey. We had 27 bikers all together, plus 3 kids. While most of us brought our mountain bikes, quite a few folks decided to rent bikes from a nearby rental...pretty cheap @ $20/4 hrs or $25/8 hrs. They got some pretty nice Specialized cruisers. Overall, our bike trip was about 8 miles round trip from the Cannery Row area to Asilomar State Beach, which is right before the 17 mile drive entrance in Pacific Grove. Most of the ride was fairly level, with just one area with a gradual incline. Pretty easy considering we had some biking novices with us. We stopped at a few places along the way to explore, take pictures, and have lunch. We saw seagulls, seals, deer, jellyfish, ducks, surfers, and wedding during the bike ride. A few people (who will remain nameless) also got wet trying to cross the slippery rocks. Let's just say that their egos were bruised more than their bodies. Perhaps you can tell who they were from the pictures. So of course, after the first fall, Eileen and I waited like vultures to take pictures of the next person to fall in. Most of the bike ride was overcast, except for the last part of our ride back where the sun finally came out as we neared the homes. On our return trip, we stopped to take this really cool picture of the entire group on this huge rock. After the bike ride, we roamed Cannery Row for an hour before we drove back home.

Look What I Found

After driving back from Left Bank Friday night, we rounded Carlisle Way's court and found this brand new Lamborghini parked on the street. I just had to take a picture. In fact, as I woke up at 5:30AM Saturday morning to load up the bikes for our Monterey bike ride, I decided to test ride my bike to the end of the street and take a few more shots of the Lamborghini, without looking too suspicious. Needless to say, an old couple was backing out their motorcycles from the nearby court as I was flashing away, so I felt a little embarrassed.

Father's Day

For Father's Day, we decided to have dinner with my family on Friday and with Becky's family on Sunday. We took my folks out to Left Bank in Pleasant Hill for some French cuisine. There weren't too many people for a Friday night, and we were treated to some live music. We took Beck's folks out to Gillwood's in Napa for some brunch. This place was busy, then again it was Father's Day, and it was Napa. We visited Grace Church before brunch, and ended up seeing lots of the folks from the church eating at Gillwood's as well. I guess that was the place to be on a Sunday afternoon.

Mother's Day

We celebrated Mother's Day with my family at La Strada in American Canyon. It was Italian cuisine. I'd have to say I liked their desserts better than their main courses.