Happy Friday!!

http://thinkingofrob.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/new-moon-trailer/

I'm From Iowa

And that kind of makes me a corn expert. For instance--I know the following is easily the greatest thing ever done with corn--EVER!


Yep--that's a cornfield in Utah that created 2 competitive mazes in their fields--one with a pic of the swoon-worthy RPatz, and one with a pic of that annoying kid from the craptastic kids movie Shark Boy. Corn maze visitors can choose from the Team Edward field, or the Team Jacob field. I have a feeling the Team Edward field will have a significant amount of wear and tear, and Team Jacob will be perfectly preserved. (Team Edward 4 EVA!)

I wish I lived in Utah, or that I would be visiting in October. OH WAIT! I am!! Lance's parents have been hitched for 50 years (yes, that's correct--not a typo---50 years. Amazing!!) and we're going out for the "family party." I feel like Rpatz and I are family, so this will be in the plans. I'm sure I can round up a willing niece needing a cool chaperon from, oh, California to drive to wherever this thing is. Where is Syracuse, UT by the way? PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOLDEN EYES, BE NEAR OGDEN!

For all of you crazy locals, you can read more about the maze here.

If You're Bored then You're Boring

I don't like boring things--I really don't like boring people. In fact, this year's Halloween party theme is "your worst nightmare" and I may go as a boring person. Or mixed fruit (eww!!!)



We here at Team Jacobs have a "family fun list" similar to my own personal fun list. This keeps us from A. being lame B. getting bored and C. never knowing what to do when we have some free time.

On the way up to SF for the day, we brought along our Frommers guide for Northern California. It has great insight into each city, and gives great suggestions for day trips, extended trips, walking trails, food, sights, etc. We went through the whole book and created our Team Jacobs Family Fun List. This was a tradition we started on this trip. We definitely did a lot of the things on that list--concerts, Napa, trip to Utah, Point Reyes, Camp Lehi. We definitely missed cooking classes, learning to kayak, beach camping, and Yosemite. These same things appeared on the new updated list.

Team Jacobs Family Fun List for 2009/2010

Mendocino 2 day trip
Learning to kayak
Segway tour of SF
Wine and art festivals
Historical SF walking tours
Boating with Dogface
Canoeing
Carmel with Dogface
Yosemite/High Sierras with camper vans and friends. Hikes to falls.
Alcatraz
Sacramento--outdoorsy stuff
River rafting with friends
Dude ranch with friends
Napa Valley/hot air balloon ride in Napa
Tour of historic SF restaurants (Slanted Door, Zadin, Foreign Cinema, Golden Boy Pizza to name a few)
Roaring Camp Railroad--dinner train through Felton
Trolley tour of SF
Checking out car/motorcycle racing
Concerts
Karaoke
Haight with a stop in at Cha-Cha-Cha's
Castro--see flick at Castro theeatre
Golden Gate Park
SF Columbarium
Cat Club for 80's night
Ruby Skye
Overnighters in SF
Muir Woods
Filoli house and garden tour
Rollerblading on Embarcadero
Fort Mason Walk
Marin Headlands walk
Russian Hill walk, shopping on Hyde Street
Tahoe
Farmer's Markets
SLO weekend
49ers/Giants game
Cooking Classes
Grand Canyon
Pismo Beach Rental
Socal Beach rental
Beach camping
Death Valley resort
Joshua Tree
Gilroy Garlic Festival
HMB Pumpkin Festival
Amtrak train ride
Vocation vacation

And that's all we wrote. Any additional suggestions?

Epic Food Fail

I always laugh when people think I'm a great chef or baker, and that this comes naturally and easily to me. It doesn't. I can follow a recipe, but a gourmet chef that *does not* make. Case in point--my highly anticipated GF pineapple upside down cake.

I cooked it for the allotted time. Looked done, smelled done. But then I cut into it, and the entire thing collapsed in the center....

...and all of the sweet inards flowed out like a horrible cake volcano.

So I cut off a corner, added some ice-cream, and sat down to share my cake bomb with the world.

The end.

Weekend of Food Where I Didn't Cook Once..AKA Labor Day!

This was a exceptionally tasty weekend. Lancer came home on Friday night to find me curled up in bed reading a trashy novel. He told me that his co-workers were having a going away party for our fabulous Swedish friends, Patrick and Sus. They bought Dobbie the little stuffed pig he ate the face off of--we assured them this was a good thing. He only destroys that which he loves. We went to Sino at Santana Row--good food and great company.

Saturday we hung out and then had dinner with our friends from the Stanford Ward in Palo Alto. I'm ashamed to say that I have no pictures of said friends--but I *did* manage to capture images of the tasty spread. I guess when you have been friends with people for over a decade, you don't have to take pictures of them anymore.

The amazing guacamole--Alie, recipe please!

The ribs by April and Scott

The artisan bread by Chris and Becky

The scene

Smore by Kaari--2 marshmallows and a smear of peanut butter on a chocolate bar. Just the right amount of burn.

On Sunday we went up to SF for a delicious chicken dinner with corn soup, corn pudding, heirloom tomatoes & artisan cheeses, and a hot fruit dessert. It was divine, but I forgot the flashcard for my camera @ home. No pictures. Boo. You can read all about my famous corn pudding here. My friend, Asian Girl, would eat this night and day.

On Monday, we headed up to SF to hang in the city and take the ferry over to Jack London Square. The weather was perfection, Jack London Square less so. Bo-ring. We blew our hour by talking to a guy in a boat rental store about sea kayaking, which is our next adventure together. We're going to go back for an 8 hour, $99 class that prepares you for life in a kayak on the open sea. Let us know if you want to join us!


The Bay Bridge (one of the main bridges in SF besides GG) was closed for the weekend so they can add a new span. The original one was damaged in the big quake of 1989...and they are just getting around to it now. Way to go bankrupt state!

A great shot of Coit Tower

We ate at Taylor's Automatic Refresher--again. We're so unoriginal--but their food is always a hit, and I find myself craving their shakes and sweet potato fries. Plus, I love the sign.


We got our lunch to go, and ate on the ferry. It was much better than the junky boat offerings, which included beer, gum, and Doritos.


Inside the Ferry Building--check out the color on these heirloom tomatoes. I had tomatoes and fromage blanc from the Cowgirl Creamery for dinner. It was a fine meal.


Once back, we got some great shots of the city, and then headed home for a night of relaxing and brownie eating.
I love Labor Day. I had 4 great dinners over 4 long days. That's my kind of weekend. It's almost like I planned it that way--wink-wink.

Introducing the Latest Addition to Team Jacobs

It's Snowball, our new accidental cat!!

We sorta led him on, and now Mr. Pus in Boots thinks we're her (his????) parents. Snowball started showing up a few weeks ago. At first, I let Gogie chase and scare her off. Then she came around more, and we noticed how hungry and sad she was was. We felt bad, so we busted out some milk and tuna.

Snowball is very friendly, and loves to be scratched and rubbed. If she were better fed, I would think she was a beloved family pet. Snowball especially loves Lance. Poor Snowball would probably cry in her milk if she knew that he ran off to wash his hands after petting her.


Now we openly play with Snowball. I knew Snowball was officially "in" when Gogie tore after her on the way home from a walk tonight and Lance yelled "Logan--NO!! Get away from Snowball right now!!"


Snowball is currently outside my front door, but she was eyeing my warm and cozy house. I just peeked out the blinds and Snowball is diligently waiting outside for more pets and food. What have we done??

Does anyone want our new cat Snowball?? I don't think Dobster is havin' it.

I Wanna Rock and Roll all Night (and party everyday)

I have a little confession. We all know about this business. But what you may not know is that I have some other 80's merchandise from another band--my love never ran as deep as it did for The Kids, but I really loved me some Poison back in the day. I was especially fond of Bret. My cousin Bruce introduced me to "Look What The Cat Dragged In" one summer and I was hooked.

My prized collection

My parents banned the tape, which meant I had to get creative with my bootlegging. Said parents also banned my Poison posters, which meant I had to make homemade signs with a signmaking kit meant for garage sales ( I LOVE BRET MICHAELS!!!) Then they banned the music in the house, which prompted me buy the sheet music and play it on the piano and flute in rebellion. Seriously--the real sheet music from my Poison box below.

And, in a final act of lameness, they forbid me from going to the concert when I was 13. My friend Pam's mom was taking her, and said I could go. My mom told me that Pam's mom was trashy. I told Pam what my mom said about her mom, and then she told her mom, and we never hung out again.

In any case, I finally stuck it to Mom and Pop this evening when I attended the Cheap Trick/Poison/Def Leppard concert @ Shoreline. Lawn seats were cheap, so we decided to chill on the lawn for one last summer concert. We were running late, then had a parking meltdown that lead us to park 15 minutes away and hoof it in.

As we arrived at the ticket booth, the guy inside told us the lawn seats were $45 each with tax, reserved seats were $137 each. In the next line, I heard peeps getting $10 lawn seats, so we jumped lines. We asked if the lawn seats were the cheapest in the house, and the girl said "yes..unless you have vouchers." So we just waited there staring at her until she became uncomfortable and offered us the two best reserved seats left in the house for $10 each. It was magical. So, we got front and center, 11th row, for a grand total of $20. That's the way we roll, folks.



We missed Cheap Trick (argh!!) and most of Poison. I was really hoping for a live version of "Talk Dirty to Me" but I will have to find another way to disappoint my parents until they come back on tour.

Rikki on drums!!

Bobby, CC, Rikki and Bret!

CC bringin' it home

I suspect they were filming Rock of Love 5. Compelling evidence below.

Nothing says Rock n Roll like us--not. At least I wore my hair big and wild, my own homage to the 80's.
Next was Def Leppard. They were SO good! The amazing seats didn't hurt, either. Lj and I had a bet about the opening number. He guessed Photograph, and I said Let's get Rocked. We both lost, as they opened with Animal.

They did an acoustic set that was amazing

That was quite a night. I'm now deaf, and have 'Armageddon It' running through my head. I would hit the hay but I'm afraid of the impending nightmares brought on by the dirty rocker cougars (likely Pam's mom) leather miniskirts, and ponytailed men.

DJ AM

One of the best dj's, DJ AM, just died of an apparent drug overdose. Such a waste. I've seen him spin in Vegas twice--once at the Pussycat Doll Lounge with Lancer, and recently at Rain (**personal picture above**) when we were in Vegas for Jo-Jo's pre-wedding party and girl's weekend.

I was at the Doctor's recently, and a Michael Jackson song came on. I told the nurse at the desk how sad it was about him dying, and she crisply said "yes, well, he was a drug addict--and all drug addicts die early and in a tragic way. I see it all the time." Sad, but true.

I'm so sad to see yet another talented individual die from addiction. He was so talented, and seemed like a truly nice and down to earth guy. The music world has definitely lost a bright star.

I know it's Wrong...

..but I just can't make myself get rid of this one-armed Michael Vick bobblehead.

In my defense, it was my first tsotchke I got on my first job, which means it's legitimately from Mr. Vick. It was all fine and dandy until he was exposed as a dog-killing freak. Then people started questioning the figurine. I know I should chuck it, but I don't have the heart. Plus, I think if it as a good luck charm. Dobbie doesn't approve.

I guess I could always say that a dog ripped his arm off--that's less offensive, right?

PS...I wonder if there's a market for old, one-armed Michael Vick Falcons Bobbleheads??
Probably not.

PSS...Why does he look so much like Ray J??

SF & Braggery

We've spent a lot of time in the city in the last few weeks. Every time we go up we always chastise ourselves for not going up more. Here's what we have been up to:

Our lovely friend Amy looked up a bunch of Chez Panisse recipes, and created this tasty gourmet dinner for our friends using local food from the farmer's market. It was as delicious as it looks--especially the chicken. Lancer said it best--"that chicken was so moist and juicy, it was like turkey." Well said my love. We feasted on lemon stuffed chicken, summer corn soup with garlic butter, and a summer salad with tomatoes.

Not to be outdone by the dessert of hot stone fruit, vanilla bean ice-cream, and homemade caramel. I was inspired--I am going to try and do a gourmet meal once a month. I just bought the latest issue of Gourmet for inspiration. I love me some good food.

Back to the burbs, where Dobbie ate the face off his favorite stuffed piggy. No, really.

Back up for dinner and dancing with the ladies. Our friend Mal looked up some good GF places to chow, and we settled for Zadin. IT WAS AMAZING. The chef has a bunch of celiac friends, and learned how to cook Vietnamese food without wheat. Most of the menu is GF, including calamari, onion rings, shaking beef, and a cucumber salad. I FINALLY GOT TO EAT ONION RINGS AFTER 5 YEARS!! Most of you take this for granted. I do not.


Back up to SF. Lancer and I needed t blow some hotel points before they expired, so we hit up the W. It's a fun and funky little boutique hotel near Union Square.

The view from our room

Chillin by the window

Oh, right. This thing. I wrote an incredibly rude letter to the occupants of room #1810 and left it by their door. It may have mentioned the word skanky and suggested that if they are either too drunk or stupid to remember who has the room key, they should designate one person to have the key at all times. This way, they won't have to wake the whole floor at 3 am while trying to get into their room.

Stopped in at Taylor's again. I got the same thing I always get--pulled pork sandwich, sweet potato fries, and a choco shake. Heavenly.

Hung out in the Ferry Building, checking out the local goods

Some great shots of the city, courtesy of Lancer and his mad photography skills. More on this in a second.




When we got home, Lancer got an email from a company asking if they could use his photo of the Westin in Frankfurt, Germany. He had posted it on Flickr, and someone from the company found it. He said sure, and now you can find his work here. The best part is that I am in the photo--if you enlarge it, you will see me, passed out in a pool chair, jetlagged beyond belief. I don't know why my face looks like bright red tomato, though. We're famous again--not since our fake wedding (that's us on the right) have I been viewed so many times by random people. I kind of like it.