the 411

Whoa, has it really been a month since my last blog entry? Time goes so fast these days it's getting kind of scary. Here's some of what we've been up to...

Several weeks ago we went up to Tahoe to stay with our friends Susan and Craig (Susan is the one who married us). They recently purchased a beautiful 2-bedroom home in Truckee area and we were delighted to hang out with them, Sacha and Maureen, and Suzy and Jeff. Here's Jeremy enjoying a beverage in their kitchen:



We spent one day downhill skiing at Sugarbowl (sorry no photos--the camera battery was dead), and the next day the boys went back-country snowboarding while the girls did some cross-country skiing (my first time!). Here's photographic evidence (with Maureen's dog Raja in the foreground):



Cross-country skiing is a hilarious sport, especially after getting used to the downhill skis. I have never in my life felt so out of control going so damn slow! Here's a cute thing we saw while on the trail:



The following weekend was Valentine's Day and J and I's 5 year datingversary. We celebrated by eating at Quince. Adam had generously given us a gift certificate there and we loved our meal! The only thing is, if we're ever out to dinner together, please remind me not to get the wine pairing. It's just a little too much for me to handle these days. ;) Here are the gorgeous roses J bought me for V-day:



I also celebrated by chopping off all my hair...don't have any great photos of the new cut yet, but you can get a feel for it in some of the photos below.

This last weekend was my bday and we started celebrating on Wednesday night with a big dinner at one of our faves, Bodega Bistro. Good friends and good food, what could be better?





On Thursday night, we saw a fantastic show at the Herbst Theatre with the Robucy...one of our favorite bands, the Magnetic Fields, were playing as part of the Noise Pop festival. WOW! What an incredible show! Stephen Merritt's voice is even more incredible in real life, and though I've never really loved Susan Anway's voice on their albums, I found her really charming live. While Stephen's voice is all dark chocolate and cigars and bear-skin rugs, Susan's is like that sweet, quiet girl in the back of the class with the heavy bangs and the Trapper Keeper. Beautiful.



On Friday we headed up to Orr Hot Springs for the weekend and spent our days sitting in hot water, reading, and making yummy food. Typically we are one of the youngest couples there, and everyone is making delicious, amazing meals in the kitchen beside us. Well, perhaps because they recently renovated the place to be more modern, there were tons of young people (mostly couples) and they were all eating yogurt and salads as we prepared meals like bacon-wrapped scallops, marinated hangar steaks, egg scramble with mushroom, sausage, and onion atop cheesy polenta. Funny!

We also took a gorgeous hike on Saturday morning in nearby Montgomery Woods. It was a beautiful time of year, as brightly colored green moss was growing over EVERYTHING. We also encountered many, many mushrooms and salamanders. Just gorgeous...

Doesn't this look like a postcard or something?



These don't look poisonous or anything:



OK, just a question, how the heck do salamanders stay alive? They are the slowest things EVER. Talk about an easy meal for some hawk or woodland creature...



And, the requisite "hold-out-the-camera" self-portrait:



So that's what we've been up to these past few weeks. This weekend we head up to Sun Valley to visit with J's parents, where I can put my newfound cross-country skills to use. I promise to update about that trip in a more timely manner. :) 'Til then! XOX

In my Eyes and Ears

This weekend I got an email from K saying that she had started her very own blog (wahoo!). Her page has a section entitled "What I'm listening to", and when I saw that, I thought, "How brilliant!" So I thought I too would share what my eyes and ears have been tuned to recently...

EYES:



The Wire
OK, um WHOA. J and I heard from his friend Nicholas that this show was the bomb. Since we regard Nicholas' opinion highly, we dutifully put the first season on our Netflix. I'll admit, it took a good 6 episodes or so for us to get into it. But once we got there, we were HOOKED. This is seriously some of the best acting and writing on television today. In the past year or so, we've done: Six Feet Under, Weeds, Rome, and Deadwood...i.e., some pretty good TV. The Wire has been by far the show we are most addicted to. It is brilliant. Seriously. I won't lie, though...it can be difficult to get into and follow, but it occurred to me the other day that the reason why The Wire can seem sort of difficult is because the creator/writer expects his audience to be intelligent enough to follow him. And I appreciate that sort of faith in the audience.

OK, also, one of the main characters in the show looks like this:



MEOW! If that's not reason enough to watch, I don't know what is. (BTW, love you, Jeremy!) ;)

EARS:

- Wilco: Blue Sky Blue



You know how there are albums out there that have saved your life? (Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights, I'm looking at you). Well, I haven't listened to Wilco's Blue Sky Blue enough to really know if it is going to do the job, but I'll tell you what, track #3 (Impossible Germany) on repeat might just do the trick. That song is just everything in the world working right together at the same time.

- Rilo Kiley: Under the Blacklight



Just...HOT. Silver Lining? So dreamy. The Moneymaker? HOT. Under the Blacklight? Just pretty. Love it, love it all.

- Gaucho: Deluxe



I met a friend at a bar the other day for a quick drink and catch-up, and who was coming in to play a show but Gaucho. They describe themselves as a "Django Reinhardt-based gypsy jazz group" (and sure enough, I immediately thought of that cute Woody Allen movie "Sweet and Lowdown" when I heard them start playing).
They are cutest band! I'll admit I may have been swayed by the hard core swing dancers who were dancing their a$$es off in the middle of the bar to Gaucho's music. But you can't help but like their music...I mean, they have an accordion player...who wears corduroys! And a fedora! So cute!

Anyway, let me know what's filling your ears these days...I wanna hear it. :)