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July 18

Stacy’s Surprise Birthday! (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by specialdark@allthingschill.com

stacy surprise

Stacy’s birthday was yesterday and Liana and Co decided to plan a week in advance to throw a surprise party. There were streamers, beautiful weather, birthday signs, a overly hyper dog and lots and lots of booze. There’s a Flickr album (22 pictures) here - all taken with the iPhone. YAY.

I was outfitted with food duty, so I marinated some shortribs Korean style and broke down 12 big bags of chicken wings and threw that in a mixture of honey and sesame oilovernight. I also brought in some roasted potatoes seasoned with furikake and sangria just like I made before.

We had beers, swung at pinatas (wish I had video lol), snacked on watermelon soaked in Basil Hayden bourbon in the sun, and later that night… sipped the sexiest chocolate martinis that I’ve had this side of the Mississippi. It’s nice to follow that up with leftovers the next day. EEEE.

Good times, good times! :)

~Spec

Posted in: pics , seattle
May 29

DV Shop Pictures (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

Flickr album here. Just a couple of quick pictures of the new store while Liana was shopping (lol AGAIN). I’m really impressed with how the place looks. Believe me, they didn’t have much to work with. LOL.

YAY DV. :)

~Spec

Posted in: pics
May 5

staying that line (Never melts (meef)) by jen

After a much anticipated dr appt - because J's been doing nothing but eat lately and has looked visibly chubber than ever - I came home all agitated and annoyed and filled with stupid girly self doubt etc. The boy gained a pound and a half. I had to ASK them to weigh him. The nurse seemed impressed, and told the boy so. He smiled and cooed and flirted and laughed with her. The dr came in, Posted in: ftt , j , kids , pics
April 21

Fields of Tulips! (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

tulip festival


After being drugged a lil’ bit with some recommended OTC medication to make me magically “un-dizzy,” Liana and I went to the The 25th Skagit Tulip Festival. YAY. She drove, my job was to not get nauseous. lol. We attended the last day of the Kiwanis Salmon BBQ, took pictures of a ton of flowers (12 picture Flickr album here!) and spent hours walking around the red / pink / yellow and purple tulip fields.

There were footlong corndogs, after-dinner mint loaves of bread (wtf?), assorted arts and crafts and lots of pets running around. It was your average town festival, but it was still a great way to spend the semi-sunny day.

YAY tulip festival! :)

~Spec

Posted in: pics , seattle
April 14

Orange (Never melts (meef)) by jen

Lack of appropriate subject matter? Let the pictures tell the story! also: I gave J some (baby food) pears (that I made) today. It was his first taste of solid foods, snif... The first bite was just, yeah, yeah. He accepted it, didn't make a face, nothing. Then he fussed a little, so I offered him some more. Soon he was crying when it wasn't coming fast enough. By the end, he Posted in: d , j , kids , pics
March 27

Pictures from Groove Tuesdays @ 720 (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

CURIOUS J IN COLOR


Flickr album here. So the gig went well and it was a really great turnout for a FREAKIN’ Tuesday. It was everything that the flyer said: Jorge spun the vinyl and I played the horn. Good times, good times.

Jacqui, Clint and Jake stopped by - looking totally FIERCE btw - and had a few drinks before Jorge and I performed. I also saw Neyno and his girlfriend Claire (it was so nice to meet you!). *Whew* - Damn, that’s a lot of links! YAY blogsphere (Clint did a quick writeup too!)

To finish off the night / early morning, we ended up @ Arturo’s tacos on Western Ave and threw down on some Posole (tripe soup) and lengua (tongue) tacos - one of my favorite reasons for going out into the city… FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD.

YAY Chicago Nightlife :)

~Spec

Posted in: dj culture , music culture , pics
February 14

hey mom! (Never melts (meef)) by jen

Yeahhhh I don't think this is gonna work for me. Thanks for buying it for me though.

Posted in: j , kids , pics
February 7

the sheep is shorn (Never melts (meef)) by jen

After noticing D looked like a Beatle as of late, and L's been screaming when I so much as look at her hair, I decided it was high time to take the kids to get their first "real" haircuts. I've been in denial about D's hair for the longest time, but lately it's not staying nice and just flopping everywhere. And I didn't want to pay to do what I wanted... Can't see myself paying $20 a head to do what I can learn to do in 10 min or less by myself. Okay I read this and it makes me sound looney, but the truth is I just wanted to do it myself, for reasons I cannot understand. I guess it makes me feel competent and useful?

So in the span of about 5 minutes my 2yo Baby D looks like he's about FIVE! Holy crap! Between that, and the new shoes I had to buy him, and the fact he's totally out of toddler sized socks and into "boys" socks oh man where does the time GO???



For reference, here he is this morning. He was all proud that he put his hands in his pockets and wanted me to take a picture. (his hair is looking especially mccartney-esque here)



Anyway, I didn't touch the girl's hair. I might trim the ends but I want it a lot shorter, so I'm taking her in. Posted in: d , kids , pics
February 1

ho hum and funny (Never melts (meef)) by jen

Actual conversation with the girl this morning:

me: "hey L, where's D?"
her: "he inside."
me: "what's he doing?"
her: "playing"
me: "what's he playing with?"
her: "the toy."
me: "which toy is he playing with?" (trying to get an idea of where exactly "inside" is)
her, staring at me as if I am the stupidest person who ever lived, sighed, and said: "the one he is playing with."

oh. sorry.

also: remember those $6 LLBean snow suits? And how I had no idea whether I was having a boy or a girl so I got blue? And I thought I should get it in a bigger size (3-6) since D outgrew the small ones very quickly? Yeah.

Posted in: kidquotes , kids , pics
January 21

Look at me (Never melts (meef)) by jen

...and tell me I am not cute!

Posted in: j , pics
January 4

end of an era, again and again (Never melts (meef)) by jen

You know how you do stuff. Maybe for convenience or maybe what you were doing before wasn't quite working out? And then you realize, hey, I can't go back from here. That your baby just grew up a little more? Sleeping in the bouncer on my desk wasn't quite working out because the other children kept bumping and jostling and throwing stuff, and their toys made noise, and J's a little more aware now. Plus I noticed he's been getting restless, like he seems annoyed when I put him in there. So Today I tried putting him to sleep in here. This is his 2nd nap there. I'm insane being in a different room from him. I put a baby monitor right there so I can hear him snorfling and sniffling and squeaking and clicking and all thsoe other things he does, IN STEREO. I hear this louder than I would if he was right next to me, so that's something. Anyway I'm glad I didn't take this down. We'll see how it goes. His morning nap was in the one upstairs. That's D's doll keeping him company.

Posted in: baby , j , pics
December 29

obsessing, navel lint gazing (Never melts (meef)) by jen

First I couldn't believe Christmas was so close and now I can't believe it's all over so fast. Whoosh, what a whrilwind. On TG, my aunt invited us to the house for Christmas eve, which we gladly accepted. a) I want to get out of my stupid "go to my mother's house two days in a row and want to put a fork through my eye" rut and b) I'd like to pretend we have "extended family." We had a super time. I put J in the babyhawk the whole time. This meant he was happier than a clam, and no one asked me to hold him. D took forever to warm up to everyone and L took right to the kids and was part of the "herd" that occasionally ran through the rooms. The food was awesome too.

I got my flash! Whee! A difference for sure. I'm still learning. I also got a new hard drive. After much pain and exposed computer innards and $200 unexpected "HELLO! buy a new OSX disk!" I was up until 2am last night getting it to work. That's the only time I can do things requiring the use of my brain without screaming and whining and "mommy look at me! You're not looking! D bit me!" and screaming and ugh. Still getting used to Jaguar, but pretty cool so far.

I was lucky when my computer got struck by lightning. My hard drives are just fried enough not to boot, but I managed to get most of the data off of them. To celebrate, I'm joining up with some online backup service. I DID have some of it backed up but it was so tedious to do it and I have 3 kids and 3 brain cells.... ooh what's that shiny thing over there... uh.. huh? what was I talking about?

The important thing is I'm back at my own computer! It only took 6 months. Kind of hard to take it that way. June seems like last week to me. Prenatal appts, sitting on a birth ball.. speaking of which my chair is broken, so it looks like birth ball is going to be my chair for quite awhile. We've been hemorrhaging money lately and I'd just as soon sit on a dining room chair than buy another stupid office chair.

Tomorrow is another travel day for us. The LAST ONE! I proposed to T that we leave early and come home in daylight. Now I'm pretty sure that we're going to get there and decide "this isn't so bad..." and stay late. But at least the option is there. Ugh. Supposed to snow tomorrow, that's the only raeson.

I forgot to schedule J's 2 mo checkup and I'm scared to. I feel like I forgot to hand in my homework and I'm not making eye contact with the teacher! I want to know how much he weighs really. I'm still on that, yes. I obsessively compare him to pictures of the other kids at his age trying to figure out if he's bigger, smaller, or on target. He is however all smiles. He's at that stage where he can sit for 10 minutse staring at his own hand in awe. Today I held up a mr. potato head doll for his inspection, and he laughed at it. He's been trying to hit/grab stuff too. We have a turtle mirror, and every time he sees it he breaks out into huge smiles. I can't tell if he's smiling at his own reflection or the turtle face over the mirror. Maybe both.



inspecting the hands...


neearrrr!


faarrr!


As for those other kids we have.. we did a lot with them this year for Christmas. We made cookies and ornaments and went sledding and even made a snowman. However stupid me forgot to break out the Night Before Christmas book like I'd planned to. Oh well.

Our Snowman


He's still sleeping in my bed. I tried twice to put him in the cosleeper but I couldn't go through with it because i am a big sappy wuss and missed him (not that he'd even go to sleep anyway.)

Posted in: kids , pics
October 4

squishy newborn goodness (Never melts (meef)) by jen

Yes, I DID eject a rather large newborn, which explains the lack of updates here! I am home, he is under some fry lamps because he is a little jaundiced. Hopefully he will come home tomorrow, but I could not stand to spend another night in that bed, I actually cried a little.. not for the baby mind you, but for the frustration of having to spend another night on that .. thing.. I was actually surprised when I sat down on my own bed and it did this nifty thing where it squished under my weight as I sat down. Imagine!

I will eventually type up the story for my own posterity, but I know you all just want to see this, and i don't know when I'll have time to be back. Everything is fine though.



Jeremy Thomas R
Oct 2, 2007
9lbs, 14oz, 21.5" long Posted in: amazon baby , pics
October 1

Happy 22nd Birthday Jackie! (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

liana jackie


Flickr album here. Liana, Tiffany and I hit up Citizen Thai last weekend for some really good “bags of gold,” decent grilled chicken and some mediocre scallops and potatoes (that was just weird). A lil’ overpriced, but the atmosphere was pretty. At least the conversation was delicious!

After dinner, we walked over to The Bubble Lounge and wished Jackie a happy birthday! She looked so cute! That night, there was much debauchery had by all and it looked like everyone had a great time. Surprisingly, a lot of people made it to the A’s game to extend the celebration the next day. We got there a lil’ late, but for the 2 innings that we were there (LOL), we chilled out, grabbed some good grub, had some beers and threw down on some really good Safeway (yes, Safeway) cake! Oh, and the A’s won their last regular season game. YAY. Great weekend!

Happy birthday Jackie! :)

~Spec

Posted in: pics , san francisco
September 28

Debate, boss, debate! (Never melts (meef)) by jen

Note: the following newborn is 2 years old. No new newborn, sorry :)


Do they look alike?

Fluffy:


D as a newborn:
Posted in: kids , pics , ultrasound
September 18

Taking Baby Steps in Seattle (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

SEARCHING IN SEATTLE


Flickr album - Searching in Seattle - here. There’s a lot to fit in two days of being in a new city, but we did a whole lotta stuff… and MORE! LOL.

Liana and I ate at Le Pichet, where we shared OEufs plats, jambon et fromage (Two eggs broiled with ham and gruyère cheese) and an Orangina - thanks Yelp Seattle! We also hit up Pike Place Market and took a look at all the beautiful produce and even shared the juiciest nectarine I’ve ever had in my life. We squatted a ton at the various Starbucks locations in the company’s hometown, and checked out Cafe Fiore (pictured above) - an undeniably cute cafe with lots of neighborhood soul.

Here are some tips for the Emerald City:

If you’re ever visiting, the Westin in downtown Seattle is a great location stay for tourist-y areas and shopping destinations alike (good choice sweetheart!).

If you’re heading NORTH on Queen Anne, use 1st street and head WEST on Roy - Queen Anne doesn’t start being a 2-way street until then. TRUST ME.

Bartell Drug Stores (Walgreens or CVS for everyone else) close HELLA early.

Green lake is a beautiful area to live in (Nate’s place in Minneapolis has the same vibe).

The University Village shopping district reminds me of a cutesy Oakbrook.

And lastly, no one was joking about the rain, bring something that can repell / resist the elements! Keep yourself dry, and keep those around you smiling!

YAY SEATTLE. Video Blog coming soon! :)

~Spec

Posted in: pics , seattle
September 12

what? they can't ALL be amusing. (Never melts (meef)) by jen

Yesterday I went for a size estimate ultrasound. Because, as a card carrying member of Fat Chick, I get all kinds of hassle from doctors. Everything from hangnails to severed appendages is Because You Are A Bigger Woman. I love how they can't say fat, and my current dr always makes a little rounded motion with his hands in front of him when he says that. And they always say it with a tone that says "you know... no offense, but I'm sure you know..." well I do, but I still don't appreciate that. ANYWAY this makes birth so much harder because they use fatundity to weasel many ludicrious things of me, such as constant internal fetal monitoring, and "you must stay on that bed" and "no you cannot deliver in anything but the standard lying down position - oh, and wear this oxygen mask, it makes you look sexy." Granted we apparently make OMGXBOGHUEG!!11! babies. The last two just sneaked under 9lbs. But they were both very long. But I digress. This one feels larger. I'm scared they may be right. (For the record, My husband has a huge head, and was a huge baby. Blame him.)

I am not exactly happy with my current position in prenatal care, but there's nothing I can really do about it at this point. The practice is totally different than it was when I first joined it. I am asking too much to have a "relationship" with my provider. There are no midwives around here. There are CNM's who work out of OB/GYN offices, but because I'm a lardass I'm required to see the real doctor. I'm not sure if this is standard or just typical small-town closed-mindedness. So I go every week to an appointment I totally dread with a doctor who can't remember anything about me, and doesn't care, who is rushing out the door for the next patient after 3 minutes max with me. I gues I kind of wanted to experience that closeness that other people talk about. And to have the support of a birth going smoothly and stress free without being told to do this, that and the other thing. I am trying to make up what I want, but I wish I had that support behind me.. other than a husband who says "sure, whatever you want." but will totally bow to what a DOCTOR says because his family is doctors and doctors are god.

However I decided way back in March that I was going to do whatever I wanted with this pregnancy, I was going to TAKE AND TAKE AND TAKE instead of being meek and obedient (oh, hell, when am I ever either of those?) This goes for everything from prenatal care, to the whole Time In The Hospital to how much crap I'm willing to handle from people, the whole gamut, not just health care but socially and post-baby as well. By that I mean, I will not be driving 3 hours with a 2 month odl and spending Christmas hiding in my MIL's bedroom nursing a baby while my children open their gifts without me because no one could wait 20 minutes.

But now I'm playing a game. I will take your silly little ultrasound, and I'll let you do a GBS test even though you and I know full well that I'm going to get antibiotics during labor whether I am positive or not (because I'm Fat, and fat.. breeds.. bacteria??) But anyway, the reason I went, even though I'm planning on kicking ass and taking names, is because I'm picking my battles. I don't want to be a difficult patient. I want to be one they will never ever suspect. And when labor comes? BAM!

So the tech was kind of bitchy and just like with the last ultrasound I went there for, I left feeling kind of depressed and underwhelmed with something that should have been at least a little fun and cute. And I still have no idea whether she thinks I'm harboring a Far Side baby in there. However judging by the fact that the head was way low (she had the wand pushing on my pubic bone. ouch. Never had one that low.) and the legs were up somewhere past my bra band... I am guessing this one is pretty long.

But at least he/she's cute.



***

We have not gotten one step further on The Name Game, so I can't report on that just yet, but I will. I kind of think the picture might make things a little easier.

***

The other day I spent way too much money at Old Navy buying clothes for the children, jeans and socks for the husband, and shirts for myself, since... damn.. I have no shirts. I wear the same 3 perfect tees every day and they are kind of embarrassingly short to be honest. And I got myself some long sleeved shirts for the fall/winter. But anyway I can't just do this in ONE trip, I have to make SEVERAL visits to the site before I'm done ordering what I'm going to order. I want shipping discounts, dammit. One package arrived yesterday, Another package is due to arrive today. Except when I tracked it, I got this:

THE PACKAGE IS DELAYED DUE TO EMERGENCY CONDITIONS BEYOND UPS' CONTROL

I felt a little thrill, I mean nothing exciting and emergent ever happens to me.* Does this mean the truck crashed and burned? That the driver drove off a cliff or hit a bus full of AC bound seniors with a gambling problem? Beamed up inside a UFO? Hopelessly lost?

Of course, it's a nice day out, so maybe he just decided to say "screw you!" to work and go out and play. The mailman does that. You know how I can tell? Rainy day? get mail at usual time.. Exceptionally nice for the first time in a few days, day? Mail is here by 9am.

Either that or he ran out of gas or something really really dumb.

*not that I necessarily want it to. Posted in: fat , pics , preg , random , ultrasound , ups
July 12

Everyone Gets Hungry, Even the Higher Ups (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

exec breakfast


Flickr album here. I made breakfast for the store’s senior managers, regional managers and other higher ups today @ 8AM before they conducted a ginormous meeting. Let’s just say that it was a really early day to feed a lot of people. Here’s what I made:

Ham, Cheddar and Leek Quiche

Vegetarian Southwestern Quiche with Black Beans, Cheddar Cheese, Green Onion and Mushrooms served with a Roasted Red Pepper Sour Cream

French Toast Bread Pudding with Caramelized Apples (Thanks for the bread Ed!)

German Pancakes with Sliced Strawberries and Confectioner’s (Powdered) Sugar (It collapsed before I could take a picture)

5lbs. of potatoes and 1lb of red onions transformed into Hash Browns

3lbs. of thick “country-style” bacon and 60 Maple Breakfast Sausages cooked on Le Cruset cast iron grills

I was tired as hell afterwards, but I had to push on to pull two successful demonstrations together (I swear, Ryan Scott of Myth Cafe is ready for television! YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!). It was really satisfying to have a 10% leftover margin (that a few of my co-workers finished off)! I’m really happy how everything turned out. I’ll have to post a recipe on the French toast bread pudding (WITH OR WITHOUT RAISINS). The title itself allows dessert for the morning! YAY.

Maybe I have a future in catering! LOL. :)

~Spec

Posted in: cooking culture , cuisine , pics
July 10

Video Blog: Thumbs Up and Chubby Bunnies! (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

LOLLICUP



Flickr album here. Youtube here. Liana accompanied (and drove)! Quick reviews follow:

Playground - Korean bar / karaoke joint. Out of peach soju. Janet’s family owns this place. Chicken took too long. There’s seafood in the tofu stew - good! They put cheese with corn (and it’s hella good). Had to ask for scissors for the Jajamyun (black bean noodles) - reminded me of home. Definitely a place to go with the Korean crew from college.

Joy Luck Place - San Mateo isn’t that far away. It was dead @ 10AM then was almost at capacity around 10:30AM. Crazy. LOTS OF BABIES! Really pretty atmosphere. Jasmine tea was fragrant. Much props to the one lady that got everything that we wanted. I tried chicken feet for the first time… and while the flavor was great, I couldn’t get past the first series of bones. I think I was the only person who ordered white rice. I liked the taro root fried dumplings and the har gow (shrimp dumplings). Check out the ridiculous chinese donuts in the video blog. It was almost TOO much for us. Almost. LOL.

and Lollicup. IT SAYS ITS ON FIRST STREET, BUT REALLY IT IS ON SECOND STREET. Annoying. The lavender bubble tea was really bitter. I could have spent all day in that place. Lots of Hawaiian paraphernalia and nice people. If you live in San Jose, it’s right across the REP, whatever the hell that is. I would definitely come back, but I have no idea why. Quickly is a satisfactory substitute.

YAY FOODZ. :)

~Spec

Posted in: cuisine , pics , streaming conciousness , viblog
June 25

Chillin’ on Chestnut & Union (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

liana happy birthday!


Flickr album Chillin’ on Chestnut here. Liana and I spent the day in Cow Hollow / Union Street, where we had mimosas and brunch @ Judy’s Homestyle Cafe, shopped @ Jack’s (nice men’s gear) and just chilled out on the grass. We also uh… got pedicures. LOL. Dinner @ The House tonite!

Oh, one more thing…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART!!!!!! :)

~Spec

Posted in: pics , san francisco , streaming conciousness
June 10

D (Never melts (meef)) by jen

Feeling nostalgic tonight. Here's a pic of the boy when he was new.

Posted in: d , kids , pics
June 4

Out on the Lamb & in yo’ Stomach (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

LEG OF LAMB


Roasted Leg of Lamb with Couscous, Green Beans and a Farmers’ Market Salad

Flickr album here. I made lamb yesterday! It’s easy, I promise! All you need is a lil’ bit of love and $8 bucks for the meat! YAY.

Put 1 handful parsley and mint (both fresh), 1 tbsp dried oregano (or 1 handful fresh), 10 whole cloves garlic, 1 tbsp of Kosher salt, 6 turns of freshly ground pepper and drizzle in 1/2 cup of olive oil in a blender - it’ll make a paste… just like a… let’s see… kinda like a watery Elmer’s Glue. Ya know, with herbs mixed in. And it smells delicious. And you can it eat without anyone looking @ you funny. LOL.

Drop in slices of 1 lemon and the boneless lamb leg in a ziplock and marinate for about 5 hours (2- 8 hours is the normal range). Pull out the lamb and sear it in a really hot pan until golden brown on all sides (don’t worry, you won’t over cook the meat since it’s so thick) and take a probe thermometer (this is the one I use)… and stick it in the thickest part of the meat and roast in a 350 degree oven until the probe reads 160 degrees. Let rest for 10 - 15 minutes and serve! YAY.

Marinate, Sear, Roast. It’s that simple! :)

Ask me questions, k?

xoxo,

~Spec

Posted in: cooking culture , cuisine , culinary school , pics , recipes
May 21

San Diego: Day Two’s Photographic Retrospective (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

SAN DIEGO DAY 2


Flickr album, aptly titled: “San Diego: Day Two” can be found here. Slideshow here. I wish I could explain the details of the day, but I’m just too beat from jumping from one damn place to the next and being transported in uncomfortable places (not like the back of a Volkswagon, but damn near close) without being able to doing anything but rock out on the new nano and read Klosterman’s new book (which incidentally was really fun). Blah.

All I can say is that I ate a lot again today. I’VE HAD MORE FILIPINO FOOD IN THE PAST TWO DAYS THAT I HAVE IN A YEAR. If this keeps up, I’m gonna start sweating lechon (whole roasted pig) oil and have nightmares that I’m drowning in a sea of pancit. LOL THAT’S GROSS. I swear, I’m joining the gym the moment I get a parent-free moment. With all there was to complain about, I must say that taking as many pictures as I could helped ease the pain. I even got a pseduo POLITIKO shot that I’m kinda proud of.

Makes me want to upgrade reeeeaaalllll bad. :)

~Spec

Posted in: pics , streaming conciousness
April 30

Lovely Sunday - Parks n’ Cafes (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

duboce park


Flickr album link: A Day in the Park. I spent the day off with LauLau, doing absolutely nothing. Absolutely nnnnnnnooooootthhhhiiiinnnnngggggg. YAY. We started with a brunch at Park Chow, where we ate a huge stack of blueberry pancakes, a carnitas scramble and a meatloaf sammich… which was sooooo damn tasty. It was a great place to eat before walking around Golden Gate Park. The service was decent (it was crazy busy) and the menu, albeit a little Schizo, had a lot to offer on a Sunday morning.

It was still kinda cool out, so we didn’t spend as much time as we wanted outside… but we did end up going to Canvas (which incidentally, was its last day of operation). Sad. There were a couple of bands playing there, but none of them really stood out. Liana did 75% of a crossword puzzle while I was listlessly watching the performance. I helped out with the French & food items, but was pretty much useless outside of that. Note to self: Get more clever-er @ c-word puzzles.

It was super sunny in Duboce Park, so we stopped by the Duboce Cafe and had some more hot drinks (mint tea for her and a hot apple cider for me) and a vegan banana choco-chip cookie! MMMMMMmmmm tasty. We chilled there for a while and took some pictures. We even found a shelf thingie put on the side of the street that we took on the bus and brought back to my apt! I love recycling stuffs. Well, now I do at least. Good times good times. It’d write more, but I gotta get to werk!

Fun times with Laulau. :)

~Herschell

Posted in: pics , san francisco
March 21

Photographic Proof that I have a Real Job! LOL. (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

demo

Earlier today, a customer sent me some pictures of myself performing a kitchen demonstration , so I thought I’d share (since I haven’t before). YAY. I also did it just in case you’re wondering what I actually *do* to bring home the bacon. LOL. YES THE PUN WAS INTENDED. MWAHAHAHA.

The photographs are an amalgamation of two demonstrations. The first half is all about paninis, while the second half is a health concious menu. You can view the entire album: I LOVE MY JOB on Flickr, or just click through the Flash-enabled slideshow below:

***


***

So yes, I have my own little (and slowly growing) cooking show… every week. Same bat time, same bat channel. Check out the chef’s jacket, eh? Hee hee. Why do I heart the job? Well, I love food, I love to teach… and I love to eat! Also, a big shout out to my “regulars.” I know you guys just don’t come for the food (and even if that were the case, I enjoy your company!) Thank you very much for the pictures Mr. Grape! Come and stop by for some samples anytime!

YAY cooking! :)

~Spec

Posted in: cooking culture , cuisine , pics
March 13

Stoppin’, Smellin’ and Shootin’ in the Sunset District (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

NATURE CAN BE CRUEL

I spent the day in the Sunset District / Golden Gate Park area to continue reading Waiting by Ha Jin, sip on some iced green tea with 3 (count ‘em THREE) squirts of melon syrup from Starbucks, take some pictures of purdy flowers (check out the gnarly SPIDER BATTLE above!) and nosh on a camp-stand hot dog. YAY. You can find the album on Flickr here: Flower Power @ Golden Gate Park, or view the Flash generated album below (UI tip: Click the main picture to advance to the next photograph):


It was beautiful. All the fragrant smells and the explosion of color from the blossoming flowers can almost overwhelm the senses. Even though I’ve been to the park before, there’s always something new to study, learn and appreciate. I didn’t fully take advantage of the city of Chicago while I was in the Midwest (well, I kinda did, so I’m making sure that I take my time and get familiar with each section of this 7 mile by 7 mile place that I call home. I’m officially a *GASP* walk-er!

YAY NATURE AND STUFF! :)

~Spec

Posted in: pics , san francisco
January 25

my puppy is 3 (Never melts (meef)) by jen

Happy birthday, puppy! Almost 3 years ago I cried a whole 20 minute car ride home, waddled into the house, stood right at the corner of the island and took my little black puppy out of the box and showed him to T. I was 7 or so mos pregnant at the time, and I was upset about the mutt for reasons I'll never understand (he was too big, skittish, kind of weird looking HOW DID I THINK THAT) but I Posted in: birthday , chewie , pics
January 5

Wait Wait ‘06! (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec

once more with feeling

2006 came and went, but the photos from that year still exist to remind us that “Hey, I lost some weight,” “Damn, I really want a s’mores caramel apple,” or “Wow, I never knew that I could actually get kicked out of an all-you-can-eat buffet… for trying to eat ALL I CAN REALLY EAT.” LOL.

I now present two Flickr photo albums, both of which have been a bit tardy getting on the Internets. My apologies. The first album, Fishie Fishie in the Sea, is composed of the remaining shots from the visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium with Steph. There are a couple wallpaper worthy pictures in there… kinda. I’ve had the jellyfish picture as my desktop for a few days now.

The second album, Minneapolis End Luv ‘06, is from the Minneapolis trip that I’ve been blogging to death. LOL. Brian also has a few photos and videos to share here. No awesome pictures like last time, but it was a good survey of what happened during the weekend. Doesn’t Diego look like a heart breaker? LOL.

One more thing… My friend and fellow resident DJ from the Dogglounge, Neyno, has a new mixset out titled: Project 23. Here’s what he posted on the ‘lounge:

Eyyyoo!

I’d like to share my latest CD Length mixset with you all… It’s House. For those that are more picky, it’s a mixture of Deep/Soulful/Latin/Vocal house grooves.

-Neyno

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[See blog post to listen to audio]
Neyno - Project 23 Mixset
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You can download it here (Right click and select “Save As…”) or sample it in its entirety using the flash player above. I haven’t gotten through the entire mixset yet… but I’ll give it a good listen soon. Let him know what you think!

YAY Pictures! :)

~Spec

Posted in: pics , streaming conciousness
November 1

Flickr + Flash = Album (All Things Chill (Special*Dark)) by Spec


I found this Flickr Flash widget, PictoBrowser, off of Danny’s Ngan’s blog and I decided to test it out since it seems like the cleanest solution to putting a Flickr album on a Wordpress blog that has a main column that is 450px wide. It was written by Carlos Javier Gomez de Llarena and Diego Bauducco. What a bunch of smart cookies. Deets follow:

PictoBrowser is a simple widget that allows the display of pictures stored on Flickr on your site or blog. Flickr is one of the most popular and advanced management and community applications on the web.

I love it, especially how the pictures cycle to the next photo when I click on the main screen. I chose my Cook! Flickr album ’cause it even extended to a few dishes that I made *Pre-Culinary Skool* in Chicago. That, and I didn’t want to bore you guys with another rant of the Pot saga. I’ve been taking a lot of “one picture = enough for a blog post” camera shots lately. Maybe this’ll get me taking more cohesive album pictures ( > 1) in the future. Maybe. Hee hee.

YAY Flash, YAY Flickr!

~Spec

Posted in: computer nerd ramblings , pics