The Most Wonderful Time of the Year Part II (Wino Christmas)

Aside from the lights and decorations, another part of the holiday season that I love are the parties!  Our group of friends started getting together 5 or 6 years ago now for an annual holiday party to exchange gifts and drink the customary cocktails but last year the party evolved into something new.  It was decided that instead of picking names and bringing gifts for Secret Santa that instead everyone should bring designated varietals of wine, we would cover up the labels, score the wines and crown a champion.  Last year the Colemans hosted our first ever Wino Christmas party and it was so much fun we decided to make it a tradition.  This year Jeff and I took on the hosting duties and we kicked off the evening by having a glass of last years champion wine submitted by one Nate Chance, Rombauer Chardonnay.  We then went on to sample and score 5 different varietals crowning a champ for each one and then calculating the scorecards to determine the overall champ.  This year it was the Colemans with their Cherry Pie Pinot Noir.  Can't wait to start of next year's Wino Christmas with a glass of that, the best Pinot I ever tasted! 



Varietal Champs, yes the Two Buck Chuck Pinot Grigio won!



The official scorecards

Wino Christmas 2010 hosts Jeff and Katy Boeder

Mel, Tubman, Becs, Lyndsay and Dave enjoying a sample of Pinot Grigio

Last years Champ Nate Chance aka Ladies Man

This years Grand Champions Jamey and Andrea Coleman with their Cherry Pie Pinot Noir.  I believe these are now the official Champion hat wear for Wino Christmas

It's not a Wino Christmas without a viewing of Frosty.  This is our favorite part of the movie

Varietal winners got to partake in a white elephant prize gift exchange

As parties with my crowd typically go, after the sophisticated part was over we drank an additional 12 bottles of wine, played the new Michael Jackson dance game on the Wii, watched Frosty the Snowman and paused it on our favorite part (over and over) and partied until the wee hours of the morning.  I love that we always start off acting like grownups but can end the night being as silly as we want because we know we are with good company and close friends.  I can't wait to see how Wino Christmas 2011 turns out....

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Part I

My most favorite part of Christmas is the decorations and lights.  When I was a little girl my mom put me in charge of decorating the tree and the house and by the time I was in high school I was precariously climbing the roof and hanging icicle lights all over the whole roof because I wanted our house to be the most festive in the neighborhood.  I always took great care when setting up the manger scene making sure that everyone was in their correct spot and that the baby Jesus wasn't put out until late Christmas Eve (because he wasn't born yet!).  Decorating the tree was the most fun as each ornament was unwrapped or unboxed it would bring to mind a memory of the person who gave it to us or the Christmas that we received it.  When I moved away for College my mom picked out ornaments that she knew were sentimental  to me and let me take them and they now have a place on my tree.  This year was extra special as it was the first Christmas in our house.  I knew months ago exactly where the tree would go and calculated just how tall a tree we could fit in that space (8' 3" if you want to know).  I was a little worried that we wouldn't have enough ornaments as we used to get a 5 ft tree at the condo, but we had more than plenty and even though Jeff said that we were only getting a ginourmous tree this Christmas because it was our first, I have a feeling that next year he won't be opposed to strapping another 8 foot tree on his car and hauling it home because we both know that we can never go back to a smaller tree.  I am no Martha Stewart but I do enjoy reading several blogs of people who are way more creative than me and incorporating some of their ideas as well as coming up with some of my own.  I took a few pictures of our beautiful Christmas to share with you all and as tradition goes, it will get grander and more creative as years go on! 



Our fireplace by day




Fireplace at night, all lit up



Closeup of our tree, how about that topper?



All lit up with the fire going




Our wine console became a perfect spot for poinsettias, candles and all our Christmas cards (this pic was taken before we got any cards though)




Various sized gold and silver ornaments helped fill out the lighted garland




I made this centerpiece for the dining room table using a gold charger, leftover ornaments and two red candles.  Not bad!




Ready for company!




The wine console lit up at night.  Oops, left my wine glass there for the pic!



Paradise Part II (Off Campus)

We had grand plans of venturing out of the resort two days over the course of the week. Jeff's coworker set up a tee time for us on that Tuesday in the morning so we planned to head to Waikiki afterwards since we wouldn't be too far away after golf. We also had plans to hike Diamond Head and drive over to the North Shore with stops at Lanikai, Waimaia, Sunset Beach etc on another day...but we had all done that before and just decided to nix that one this trip and spend another day lounging at the resort. I am glad we ventured out for golf and Waikiki because golf was a lot of fun and you can't go to Oahu and not stop by Waikiki.

Andrea and I are still very much beginners at golf but we are slowly improving and the game gets more fun the more you play and the more you improve. Plus, we got to golf in Hawaii! That is an opportunity you just can't pass up and it was so awesome of Jeff's coworker to hook us up. The course was beautiful and next to Hickam AFB and Pearl Harbor. The palm trees were planted in clusters of seven to commemorate the December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and each hole was dedicated to a medal recipient from WWII. After a picnic lunch at the course we headed to my favorite place on the whole island, Dukes. We sat at the bar with the famous view of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head off in the distance watching surfers, paddle boarders and sunbathers play in the turquoise blue water.

View of Waikiki and Diamond Head from Duke's

Sunset at Waikiki Beach

Jeff and Jamey at Navy Marine Golf Course

The Boeders at Navy Marine Golf Course

Katy and Jeff Kalakaua Ave, Waikiki

Watching the sunset in Waikiki

Close up of The Black Pearl

Katy and Jeff in front of The Black Pearl

Humpback whales as seen from The Ko Olina Cat

The elevators in our building overlooked the Ko Olina Marina and everyday we would see this big beautiful ship and all make jokes that it was the Black Pearl from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Jeff and I had seen the BP anchored in Redondo Beach a few years back after filming of POTC 2 and it did really look familiar. Finally I googled it and found out it was indeed The Black Pearl! POTC 4 had just wrapped up filming on Oahu and they docked it at Ko Olina. They are building a Disney Resort on the property so maybe it will become a permanent fixture or attraction there. We had booked a Catamaran cruise that left from the Marina and once everyone was on board the crew asked us if we wanted to get closer and cruised us up right next to the ship. It was really beautiful and we were within 10-15 feet of it and could see all the detailing and carvings (and also all their coast guard mandatory electrical lighting). After a few minutes of ooohing and aaahing it was time to head out for some snorkeling. The crew whipped up a tasty cocktail for everyone called a Catatonic, we all set up shop on the net and enjoyed cruising out into the ocean. The crew was telling us that in late November and early December you could usually see Humpback whales. Not five minutes later another passenger spotted a group of two female Humpbacks and a baby! The crew was amazed as it was the first whale sighting of the season and much earlier than usual. We followed the whales for probably 45 minutes watching them dive and come up and wave their flukes at us. The baby couldn't dive very deep so it would hang out at the surface while the adults dove down deep for food. It was amazing to watch and the entire boat was silent for the whole 45 minutes while we watched these 50 foot creatures swim right by us. After Mother Natures brilliant performance we headed out to Turtle Rock to do some snorkeling. The crew told us there would be lots of fish to look at and if we were lucky maybe a turtle. I was a little nervous about snorkeling because last time I was in Hawaii and tried snorkeling in Haunama Bay I had a panic attack....I was the second person off the boat and decided I wouldn't look down until Jeff got in the water but the crew kept yelling at me to "look down, look down!" and so I did and I was surrounded by hundreds of colorful fish and I was so amazed that I couldn't believe I was ever scared to do this. The fish were beautiful and not afraid at all, they would come right up to you and investigate you to see if you had any food and as if the day couldn't get better we saw not one, but two sea turtles that let us swim with them while they foraged the sea floor for food. That Cat cruise was by far my favorite experience of the whole trip.

Paradise Part I (The Resort)

Saturday, November 13th started out with the car service picking us up from the Coleman's bright and early at 7 am. After killing some time with trashy mags and bloody marys at the airport we boarded our flight and just 5 hours later landed in Paradise. We rented a large SUV for the week and began the 30 minute drive to the resort, enjoying the warm and humid air and chatting excitedly about everything we wanted to do during the week. We made a pit stop at Safeway to stock up on essentials (like vodka) and then pulled into the resort. This place was amazingly beautiful (see more here. ). We were on the 9th floor with an ocean view. It was a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom villa with 2 lanais looking out over the pools and the water. We had a full kitchen and washer and dryer...it was the nicest diggs I've ever stayed in while on vacation! The best part of a vacation is that first day when you think of all the time you have ahead of you to relax and enjoy and going home seems so far away. You realize that you get to sleep in for the next 7 days and eat good food and enjoy tropical cocktails any time of the day (in fact it is encouraged to drink before noon while on vacation). We unpacked, whirled up a few cocktails and emptied our heads of any thoughts of home or work.

Jeff coming out of the water slide

The Colemans and The Boeders dressed up for dinner at Chuck's

Enjoying a key lime colada by one of the pools

Beautiful sunsets were seen every night from our Lanai

The Colemans enjoying the lagoon which was perfect for swimming

A view of our kitchen, living room and lanai

Daytime view of the pools, lagoon and ocean from the villa

The resort had several restaurants on site, a running path, several swimming pools, 4 lagoons, a golf course and a market. There really was no need to ever leave the place except for occasional trips to Safeway. We ended up making all our breakfast and lunches at the villa which was convenient and saved quite a bit of money and then would go out for dinner at night. At the beginning of the week we were ambitious and would get up and run or walk the 3 mile loop that wrapped around the lagoons along the resorts edge. By the end of the week as the cocktails and full bellies caught up to us we weren't so ambitious. Because of the 2 hour time difference we were pretty much up at 7 am most days and in bed by 10 most nights. The weather was a perfect 83 degrees everyday and the clear, blue water and sandy beach was most inviting. The main pool had a water slide which was our preferred method of getting in the water. More often than not we were the only grown ups in line for the slide but the kids in line took to us once Jamey started giving them tips on how to get down the slide more quickly (cross your legs and arch your back!). Because of the time of year and probably the economy the resort was pretty quiet. We never had a problem finding a lounge chair by the pool or the lagoon and never needed a reservation at any of the restaurants. The Colemans found a gem of a place to purchase a timeshare and we are eternally grateful that they let us join them. More to come next post!

Well It's About Time!

I was off today, my first official day of The Vacation. Tomorrow Jeff and I hop on a plane with the Colemans and fly off to Oahu for a week of sunshine, beaches, hiking, adventuring, snorkeling and cocktailing. Today was spent doing laundry, running errands and getting the house in order to prepare for a week away. As I type this I am enjoying a cocktail and Jeff is in the bedroom with his own cocktail organizing his laundry. It's hard to believe that 24 hours from now it will only be 4:30 at Ko Olina and we'll just be settled into our room and discussing dinner plans! We have an idea of everything we want to do while we are there, but only one thing is set in stone and that is a tee time on Tuesday morning. Other than that we want to hike Diamond Head, check out Lanikai Beach, drive to the North Shore, have cocktails at Duke's in Waikiki, go on the booze cruise and go snorkeling. But, the main plan is to be as lazy as humanly possible. Now that's a vacation! Jeff bought me my Christmas present early, a very nice digital camera. My old one that was 5 years old finally went kaput...it was outdated anyway. I am so excited to take many, many pics and share them with you when we return! On a side note because I know there are family members that check the blog to keep up with happenings on the house, below are pics of our recent project. This week we redid the fireplace:

Before

After

Also, as noted in a previous post I was getting back into my routine of gym and better eating. I lost 6 lbs so far and dropped down a size. I'm feeling much better about rocking a bikini for the week than I did just 6 weeks ago! The real rockstar is Andrea though. She's dropped 16 lbs! Girl goes to bootcamp at 6 am, walks 3 miles with me at lunch during the week and then goes to bootcamp or the gym at night. I lost 6 lbs just from cutting back on calories, going to the gym twice a week and walking at lunch. Andrea is my new hero and we plan on getting some runs and walks in around the resort next week but when we get back I am ready to step it up! Okay friends, I'm ready for a refill and need to start putting everything in my suitcase. Aloha!

Beautiful Seattle

I was lucky enough to be able to join several executives, agents and colleagues on a trip to Seattle to see a the Mariners play the Angels and go on a food and beverage tour downtown in Pikes Place Market. I'd never been to Seattle before and being a HUGE baseball fan I was super excited to not only be able to explore a stadium I'd never been to before but to see it from a suite. Our hotel was beautiful and right across the street from the ball park and I even had view of the scoreboard from my room. The game was a lot of fun, Seattle fans were very friendly and the park was beautiful. I'm a die hard Padres fan but the last few years have developed an affinity for the Angels, I now consider them my American League team. The Angels pulled off a win and one of the plays was featured on ESPN that night (awesome double play).

Seattle Mascot The Moose

After the game several of us went out and that part is a little fuzzy....it is probably better that way. Sorry...no pics. The next morning, after many beverages and little sleep we were scheduled for a food and beverage tour of downtown. The weather was exactly what you expect of Seattle, cold and rainy. We trudged through the rain and enjoyed a tour of Pikes Place market and sampled tea, fish, fruit, chowder, crab cakes, cheese, cherries and pastries. It was a great tour and even the rain was welcome as we don't get much of that in San Diego.

The entrance to The Market

This is the famous fish market where they throw the fish. We got to witness it and meet the workers. Many of the employees had been working there for over ten years and they all love their job. It was quite fun to watch and if you watch the Anthony Bourdain Pacific Northwest Episode, all of the guys working the market that episode, I got to meet that day.

After the tour I had a few hours to kill before heading to the airport so my Partner in Crime and myself ducked into a bar in the market and overlooked the bay and sipped on a few local brews (much needed hair of the dog). It was a quick trip but I've decided I would love to go back to Seattle for a long weekend with my hunny and explore. 24 hours in Seattle just ain't enough....

Another year....

I can't believe it's been 2 years since the most beautiful, perfect, fun and memorable day of my life! I remember the whole planning process (I did it all myself!), the stress, the joy, the creative juices....and it was all worth it to have a celebration in honor of finding my most perfect match. We spent the long weekend celebrating Amanda's 30th in Paso Robles wine country and spent lots of time with good friends at the lake (one of my favorite places on earth). The actual anniversary was spent on the road traveling back to San Diego but we reminisced about everything that makes "us" and "our story" so special. We will celebrate this weekend with the 2003 bottle of Silver Oak we've been saving and have a whole weekend with no obligations to anyone. Just us time.


For a stroll down memory lane here is the link to our photographers blog post about our wedding:

http://shadowcatcher.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/katy-and-jeffs-oak-meadows-wedding/

And here is a link to my favorite pics of the big day:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=92646&id=563058071&l=1afa73a4dd

Hair

Once Jeff and I decided that we wanted to buy a home I realized that sacrifices would have to be made. We'd have to eat out less, spend less money on wine, shopping would have to hold off for a while and I also had to give a few things up personally...like tanning and acrylic nails and $60 haircuts and $120 highlights and (eek!), regular purchases of designer jeans. I gave it all up last July (except for tanning, but I'll address that in my next blog) while we were on the hunt for a house. A house that would come with a mortgage payment triple the rent we were paying at the condo. I died my hair out of a box a slightly darker shade so my roots wouldn't show, I just gave up haircuts all together and I learned to love the 15 pairs of designer jeans I already had in my closet. In that year, my hair is now my natural dark blonde and it has gotten very, very long. I think it is the longest I have ever had my hair. Strangely, I have gotten more compliments on my hair the last few months when it hasn't been cut or dyed in a year than when I was spending (let me calculate...) $1000 a year on my hair. Figures, right? I've finally gotten to a point that I can't stand my long, stringy, split end, desperately in need of a haircut hair. I look like a hippy, seriously. So Saturday I'm going to splurge and spend $60 plus tip on a good haircut, nothing drastic but much needed. Usually every couple of years I go drastic and chop it short (like I did the month before Jeff proposed and he was mortified knowing I would want it long for a wedding) but not this time. I'll keep it long for now and just get rid of the hippy, all one length do and post pics later.

Can You Find Us?

In our quest to visit every MLB Baseball stadium in our lifetime, we hit up a stadium in our own backyard. Yesterday after visit with J&G in Redondo Beach we headed to Anaheim for an Angels game It's a beautiful stadium and Angels fans are super friendly. See if you can find us in the true fans gallery:

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGallery.asp?evgroupid=0&userid=AngelsTrueFans&gallery_id=2215930


In two weeks I head to Seattle to check out Safeco field. Unfortunately I don't get to bring Jeff, but it is an all expenses paid trip that I earned for being awesome at work. I've never been to Seattle so I'm super excited and anytime I get to watch baseball, especially in a suite, you know I'm down!

Where the Turf Meets the Surf

♫ Down at Old Del Mar♪

We go every year. I love it! This year we took Nick on his 19th birthday and the kid walked away with over $150 in winnings....

Sweet Little Emma

I'm an Aunty! We're not related by blood, but her momma has been my BFF since we met in Kindergarten in 1983, she knows all my deepest, darkest secrets and she was my maid of honor. She is family. I remember when she called me to tell me the news that she was pregnant, I was excited for her but also couldn't help thinking that everything would be different. What about crazy nights in Vegas? What about girls nights in Laguna Beach? What about going out to the bars? Does this mean we have to start growing up???? Rosa is the first one of our group to have a baby and we all kind of figured she would be. She was well trained (7 brothers and sisters!) and born to me a momma. Now I see that we're still gonna have our fun but its just going to be a different kind of fun, and that's ok. Little Miss Emma was born on June 28th and last weekend I finally got to meet her. I'm in love....she is the most perfect little creature I've ever laid my eyes on. Her momma is so good with her and her Daddy is so proud, they are the perfect little family. Jeff and I call her The Little Nugget, I'm sure she'll go through many more nicknames through the years. I am hopeful that Rosa never tells her that Aunty Katy and Uncle Jeff used to refer to her as "the fetus." I can't stop thinking about her and I can't help but think she's gonna need her a bff...

Sleepy Girl

How Cute is she with her daddy?

Her Grumpy Mug.

Deadly Sins

There are seven of them. My two favorite are sloth and gluttony...As mentioned in my previous post I love being lazy. I also love to stuff my face and drink a days worth of calories (I'm exaggerating). It takes a great amount of effort to resist these two deadly sins. I've always been an athlete, I ran track from elementary school until my sophomore year of college when I decided that beer was a lot more fun than triple jump. After college I always kept in shape by running, lifting weights, going to bootcamp class, etc... As much as I love food and drink, I've always kept close tabs on what I intake by keeping a food journal and would write down every calorie I consumed. Sometimes I would slip and take a few weeks off from diet and exercise but would always get back into my routine and that was that. Well, last year I fell off the wagon beginning with our October trip to Boston. Shortly after Boston was New Orleans followed by the holidays and pretty soon my new routine was being a sinner. I just kind of fell off the wagon and got used to my new routine. Now, 10 months later I am finally realizing how much I've sinned! I've had so much fun eating and drinking and being lazy but I realize how much I miss feeling fit. I haven't gotten fat or anything, but I don't feel as firm as I used to be and my clothes are starting to fit differently. Yesterday I bought a memo book and started writing everything down again and yesterday I started running again. I'm looking into joining the gym and even taking some exercise classes. I miss my old routine and what better motivator than Hawaii in November? I want to wear nothing but bikinis and sundresses that whole week and I want to feel confident again. So here is to a new routine!

Life as of Late

I'm a Taurus. While I don't really believe the day to day horoscopes that promise "love and happiness are coming in the week ahead because Saturn is in retrograde, blah, blah" I do find the characteristics of each sign to be pretty spot on for most people I know. Virgos are organized and tidy, Libras are social and outgoing and Tauruses are stubborn, lazy and like routine. I am a Taurus through and through. I am stubborn, ask Nate. He is a fellow Taurus and we've always been two peas in a pod in the fact we both always think we're right. Years of friendship have taught both of us how and when to concede, but I still love to prove someone wrong. I am lazy. You can say laziness is my hobby. My dream weekend is one in which we have absolutely no plans and I can forgo showering and getting dressed and lay on the couch all weekend catching up on TV and watching movies. I live for those weekends. Routine is my friend. I don't like surprises or disruptions, I'm not all that eager to try something new or out of the box. I like the feeling of comfort the expected brings me. 2 weeks ago all my comfort zones were tested when I had to report to jury duty downtown. Those bastards call me every year on the nose. And every year I park at work and walk the 5 blocks to the courthouse with a bag full of trashy magazines because lord knows how long you will sit in that god forsaken jury lounge until they herd you like cattle into a courtroom Every year I sit in a court room and every year I don't get picked or I get excused because of my profession or my friendships with officers. This year was different. In the jury lounge (where there had to be 200 of us) they announced there was a 4 week trial. I wasn't worried. What are the odds out of all these people I'll get picked? They called several groups of people before me and I was beginning to think they might pick all the jurors for all the cases before they even got to me. Finally they called my name and I followed my group and immediately was called to be juror #3 and lucky me it is the 4 week trial. So the last two weeks have consisted of me getting up at a different time, walking to court, finding new spots to eat lunch (I usually work at lunch and eat at my desk), finding new and interesting ways to stay awake and attentive, heading to work after court at 4:30, working a few hours to make sure all of my crap is being handled and then getting home a few hours later than usual. This sucks! I know it's my civic duty, but this whole change in routine thing is killing me! The good news is is that we should begin deliberating on Monday and it appears we'll finish a week early and then I'm off the hook for 3 years. And then...I get my life back. On top of jury duty I had a whirlwind of visitors last week. It began with Cyn and Nova on Saturday for the Elton John concert, followed by my mom, Linda and Michelle, followed by Amanda, Kiya and Brendan followed by Rich and Steve! I just love company, but it just worked out that they all chose the same week to come stay with me. I've never washed so many sheets and towels or cleaned the bathroom so many times in so few days in my life! I'm really looking forward to peace and quiet and usual work stuff. Sometimes I love a boring day....

Our Kitchen,From Before to After

The only way Jeff and I could afford a home in San Diego was to buy a fixer. As an HGTV and DIY channel addict, the thought of buying a house and putting some elbow grease and transforming it so that it was a reflection of 'us' was very exciting to me. We loved the location of the house, the bones were good and it was bigger than most of the houses we looked at in our price range. But, it was a foreclosure and the family that lived there before us had 'questionable' taste to say the least. The former owner was a carpenter and our kitchen was a hodge podge of recycled cabinets of varying colors that he had no doubt salvaged from some of his jobs. There was a home made island and a hideous peeling paint job that one could only describe as the color of puke. Even though the kitchen was gross, I could see the potential and had a vision immediately. Last weekend we got our countertops done which was the final step in making our kitchen complete. Below are some photos that show the transformation and Jeff and I are very excited that we have 1 room in the house that is completely done and to our satisfaction. We can now move on to other things...and there are many!

We removed the hood and replaced with microwave. Notice the different color cabinets.

Puke colored paint. We replaced sink, faucet, mirror and painted walls and cabinets. Replaced the outlets as well.





After we painted cabinets, installed microwave, installed new sink and faucet.


The countertops getting refinished.

The final product!