San Francisco: Japanese Tea Garden

Saturday and Sunday I did have help exploring San Francisco: Liz was my partner in crime…er…wandering.  She’s also the only one, so far, to figure out where my banner came from:

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Although to be fair, she was the only one with me at the gardens.

While wandering somewhat aimlessly around Golden Gate Park we decided to try and find the Japanese Tea Garden.  We did an okay job of reading the maps.  Just okay.  I wont say fantastic, because we may have taken a wrong turn or three, but we did get there eventually and paid our way inside. Continue reading

San Francisco: Sea Lions!

Way back in December of 2012 I ventured to San Francisco to visit one of my bestest friends, Liz.  If you read my last post, you journeyed with me to Alcatraz.  Today I’ll take you to a few of  the places I went after I took the ferry back to the mainland.

I exited the boat, wandered a bit, and, to my delight, I found these guys:

I don’t know if there’s an acceptable appropriate amount of time that one is allowed to watch sea lions before it becomes “weird”…but I watched them long enough that I’m pretty sure it was.  Weird that is.  They’re just so funny and floppy, and they sleep together so closely that when one wakes up and wants to move it has to step on all the others.  And they would play, and fight, and fall off the barges.  I know, I know.  I’m strange and obsessed.  But it was worth it. Continue reading

San Francisco: Exploring Alcatraz

Waaaaay back in December I hopped on a plane (or two…or four really, if we’re counting the return trip) and flew cross country to visit my awesome friend Liz out in San Francisco. Between fluctuating ticket prices, arrival times, and my own concern about jet lag (How early did we end up going to bed in Vegas?) I ended up flying in a day early, which left me with some wandering time by myself while Liz and Kevin were off at work.

My options were this: chill in the apartment by myself all day reading, or do my best not to get too lost and be a tourist.

I decided to be a tourist.

Alcatraz from a distance.

Alcatraz from a distance.

Continue reading

Flowers: so very many of them

This is Michael's "I'm humoring her" face. :)

This is Michael’s “I’m humoring her” face. 🙂

 

I know everyone out there was on the edge of their seats waiting for me to tell you all about my exquisite (don’t you mock me) multitude of tissue paper flowers.  And, since I would never be so cruel as to allow you to fall off a chair, I’ve decided to enlighten you on my practiced and perfected technique.

Because my first flowers seriously looked like crap.

Which is weird, right?  I can’t be the only one who remembers making these things in elementary school. Continue reading

Cinco de Mayo -or- Fun with Tissue Paper Flowers

Yes, ladies and gents, you heard me right: tissue paper flowers.

In all honestly, last week needed a bit of livening up(I’ve been working on my thesis…so yes, arts and crafts are exciting…), and the failed dulce de leche gelatto (blech!) just  wasn’t going to cut it as my “I’ve done something impressive this week so lets share it with the internets” topic.  But my mom was having a Cinco de Mayo party for the married couples group at my church, and, after seeing the plastic banners she had hung around the house, I decided that we could do better.  Period.

My mom mentioned making tissue paper flowers to liven up the banners…and I accepted that challenge and took it to the extreme.  Kindergarteners make them all the time right?  And surely simple tissue paper flowers would be too easy.  I needed more, more, MORE!

flowertrees

  These little flower trees are the result of my need for more (and am I the only one currently thinking about the AT&T commercial with the guy interviewing all the little kids…?).  They look a whole lot better in person, and are super simple to make.  A little time consuming, but they don’t require much brain power and are really difficult to screw up if you want to multitask and watch TV or something. Continue reading