half way

Well kids, we are half way there! It has been 3 months since we got engaged

Remember this?

and we have 3 months until our wedding. I guess it’s time to get serious about this whole wedding planning thing, huh? And it’s definitely time I put down the chips ahoy and pick up my running shoes! For some reason I have been seriously lacking motivation to work out so I decided to volunteer at the Vineman triathlon this Saturday. What better way to get motivated than to be around super star athletes? The energy at these events is electric and super contagious and despite the fact that I have to be in Guerneville at 5:00 am this Saturday, I’m actually really excited! Not to mention my shift consists of stripping wetsuits off the triathletes as they transition from swim to bike….Best of luck to all those triathletes out there! Who knows, maybe this will inspire me to start training for my very own triathlon. My dear old dad competed in the Vineman about 15 years ago and rocked it. He told me he volunteered at an aid station one year and that was it, he was hooked and set on doing the race himself, which he did the following year. So, you never know! Just to give you an idea of what this race entails, it is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, finished off with a 26.2 mile run. No big deal.

On a completely unrelated topic, I had a week of firsts: my first time making salmon and my first time cooking chicken breast on the bone! Who knew salmon was so easy, nutritious and delicious? Not I! As for the chicken, I never ever cook chicken on the bone, until now! Luke said my bbq chicken on the bone was the most moist chicken he has ever had! Woohoo! Success! 

If you have never made salmon before, you should do yourself a favor and make this tonight for dinner.

Simple Salmon Recipe – even your kids will love it!

You will need:

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dried basil (I used fresh, whatever you have on hand)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped (I used dried because I didn’t have any fresh!)

2 (6 ounce) fillets salmon

Mix all the ingredients together and marinate the salmon in the fridge for 1 hour (or 30 minutes if you are in a hurry like I was)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Place fillets in aluminum foil, cover with marinade, and seal. Place sealed salmon in a glass dish and bake for 35-45 minutes, until easily flaked with a fork.

final fling

A few weekends ago, my girlfriends and I got together to celebrate my final fling before the ring! We had such an amazing weekend. I can’t thank them all enough for everything they did to make my bachie party so flippin wonderful.

A dozen of us drove out to Forestville where we rented canoes and floated down the Russian River. Luke’s sister, Lisa, and my cousin, Megan, made me a special white hat with veil attached to wear as I went down the river. The veil drew lots of attention from other canoe riders which made the float that much more fun and special. I have never floated that section of the Russian River before and was blown away at what a party it was! There were hundreds of people all out to have a good time. Everyone was so friendly and especially chatty when they found out I was getting hitched! We met some people from Ireland, San Francisco, many locals, and my favorite, a group of gay triathletes in town for the Vineman. Lots of good memories from the trip down the river. Here are a few pictures from the day.



Bride to be ready to go! Thanks to Lisa and Megan for my cute hat!



Debra, Annie, Katrina, Erica, and Emily waiting for canoes



Felecia, Megan, Molly, Tracy, Kelli, and Kaitlin ready to go down the river.



The whole gang



The ladies loading up the canoes. Cheers to a fun day ahead!



Katrina and Molly all set to paddle.



Check out all the canoes on the river - it was such a party!



Hard core floaters! They attached three canoes together and made what you see above.



Lisa with her paddle



Tracy, Lisa, Kaitlin, Molly, and Katrina



Emily and Annie and their champagne in a can!



Kaitlin and Katrina with Molly in the back sunbathing!



Future sis-in-law!



Murphy sisters and bride to be



Katrina and Emily at the end of the canoe trip



Our lovely mascot for the day!

We went back to my house after our day on the river and got ready for the evening. We had a delicious dinner at Volpis Restaurant in Petaluma and then it was time to dance dance dance!    



Ready for our night on the town!


Thanks, Deb, for my new purse!



Future sis-in-law!

 

Emily, Molly, Erin, Kelli, and Katrina at dinner



Annie, Katrina, and Debra downtown Petaluma





Emily, Lisa, Katrina, Annie, Kaitlin, and Molly downtown Petaluma



Our DJ for the evening, what a fitting shirt huh?!



Downtown Petaluma, who knew you were so fun? Thanks for showing us a great time. We all spent the night back at my house and woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee and fresh muffins. Lisa and Annie were hard at work making us a delicious breakfast. Aren't my friends AMAZING?! I know! Thank you to Megan also for bringing the fresh fruit and OJ! After breakfast and before the girls headed home, we played a game. Each girl brought me a gift, but did not sign their name on the gift. They had to bring a gift that started with the first letter of their first name and I was to guess which girl brought it – such a fun and cute idea! For example, Emily gave me earrings. I think everyone got a kick out of watching me play this game the morning after our big night on the town! Great job ladies on being so creative with your gifts! You girls spoiled me and made me fee so special the whole weekend!

The only thing that could have made this weekend any better was if my sister (MOH) could have been there with us. She is in her last year of vet school working her butt off on the East Coast right now. She was missed and hopefully we can do something fun when she comes back home in October. Girls, you up for bachie round two? J

put a cork in it

Corks! I’m collecting them for a wedding project. I put out the word a few weeks ago that I was collecting corks, lots and lots of corks. Everyone has been so helpful and amazing! Thank you to all you winos out there! Without you, this project would not be possible. It also helps that one of my clients has a tasting room in Kenwood (Ty Caton – shameless plug go check them out!) and has been saving all his corks for me too.

I had my first wedding dream last night (well second really, my first one was a few weeks ago and I was about to walk down the aisle but I couldn’t find my shoes). In my dream last night, I didn’t have any make up on and my hair was not done, we had no dessert because I never placed my order, and I never met with our photographer to tell her when or where to show up! Also in the dream, we got married in Westminster Abbey and I was still barefoot! Obviously my to-do list is finding a way into my subconscious as the wedding date gets closer.

Thank goodness we are heading to the cabin this weekend for some fresh mountain air! I’m looking forward to taking the dog on some runs and bike rides and cooling off in the lake. Hope you have a wonderful weekend doing something you love with people you love!

how sweet it is

This week Luke and I met with Carolyn of Sweet Expectations for a cake tasting. It was so much fun the way she presented the tasting. She had two plates of different cakes and one plate with all the frosting and filling choices for us to mix and match. Our cake choices were chocolate, white, yellow, and red velvet. It was way too hard to pick a favorite so I think we might have to get a little bit of everything! Frosting choices were butter cream and whipped cream/cream cheese combo which was heavenly on the red velvet cake.   



Let the tasting begin!

Look how excited Luke is to start tasting.

All gone! Clearly we didn't like it at all : )

After the tasting we headed to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Mi Pueblo, for tacos and beer! Every Tuesday this place offers $1 tacos and I am there at least twice a month to take advantage of such a great deal. It was a gorgeous evening so we ate outside, sipped our cervezas, and discussed our cake/dessert options.

I am happy to say that we made a final decision on the cake and all I will share is this: if you know me, you probably know that (1) I LOVE all things dessert and (2) I am terrible at making decisions. Therefore, how could we have only one dessert option at our wedding?

tastes like summer

What a beautiful weekend! I can’t get enough of this weather and I really hope it sticks around. Our garden is loving these warm days too. I'm looking forward to eating our tomatoes, zucchini, and string beans. A HUGE thanks to my wonderful man for setting up all the plants on a timed drip system! Seriously, the only way to garden! 



Luke pruned our lemon tree which exposed dozens of beautiful looking lemons! What’s a girl to do with so many lemons? Make lemonade of course.



Queen Gracie watching over the land (and lemon tree)

fresh picked lemons



Lemonade Recipe:

you will need

3 cups cold water

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

¾ cup sugar

Squeeze lemons, strain seeds

Mix lemon juice, water, and sugar

Pour and enjoy!

Store in fridge for the perfect refreshing treat on a hot summer day

4th of July and my camera

Happy 4^th of July! I hope you had a fun weekend celebrating our great country. We had a wonderful weekend enjoying the beautiful weather, hanging out with great friends, and watching some fireworks.

My mom and I headed up to the pear ranch Saturday morning. I knew it was going to be hot when it was 80 degrees at 8:30 in the morning in Sebastopol! 4^th of July at the ranch has become tradition for us and it was so much fun sharing it with some new faces this year. My friend Emily, her fiancé Dan, and her brother Jack joined us this year. Luke’s parents, Greg and Carol also came up for the day Saturday. It was hot hot hot on Saturday so most of the day was spent floating on the delta. My dad brought his ski boat and we all took turns being pulled. It was so gorgeous that we stayed out boating until 9:00 pm and had a pretty amazing evening ski. My brother was up there with some of his friends and they put on a fun fireworks show for everyone Saturday night. These guys sat in a canoe on the delta fighting the current and sparks from the fireworks just to give us all a great show. I’m not sure what was more entertaining – the fireworks or watching the boys wincing as the sparks hit them. Their selflessness was greatly appreciated!

I was really hoping to share some pictures of our ranch weekend, but sadly, my camera stopped working out of the blue! One second I was taking pictures on Saturday, and the next second the screen was black and nothing seemed to work. I was hoping it was just a dead battery. As soon as I got home I recharged the battery and stuck it in the camera, but no such luck. It was a good 4 ½ year run with my Canon. Now time for a new one! I need to make my purchase quickly – there are so many fun and memorable events coming up and I don’t want to miss out documenting these times. Please let me know if you have any suggestions on cameras!  

Here are a few pictures of the weekend that other people took!

Calm Delta Waters - view from the dock

Taking a ride in the chop top

Sunday morning was another hot one. After cooling off in the delta, my mom and I headed back home. Luke had been gone all week in the Virgin Islands for work checking out a possible solar project and he returned late Saturday night. It was good to see him and have him back home! We spent Sunday afternoon making food for the upcoming work week.

Thank goodness I have my phone to snap some pics until I get a new camera!



First basil harvest of the season



mmmm fresh pesto



Grill master at work



Sweet corn, veggies, and venison



Sunday night we met up with my cousin, John and his wife Felecia for the Analy fireworks in Sebastopol. The town was hopping! There were so many people out having a great time, live music in the streets, ice cream trucks, and lots and lots of fireworks. It was a great show and fun to see John and Felecia.

Wow, that was a long post! It was such a fun weekend. It feels like Summer has finally arrived.