flower power and a weekend of fun

the parentals and cronies in tow headed down to my neck of the woods a few weeks back, they are all garden enthusiasts so i thought of no better place to take then than the conservatory of flowers. we got there a little late so we were rushed going through the exhibit, regardless, it was beautiful. we strolled around the grounds outside before going in, here is what i saw:

this was from inside the conservatory. no idea on what it is, but its cool!

how soft and pretty do these look?

and the gang chillin in the conservatory of flowers. silly little family.

after flower viewing we wanted to sit and just watch the people walk by. from my experience some of the best people watching is at hippie hill in the park. so we strolled over there, took a back seat the the action and watched the crazys be crazy.

as we were sitting there, this guy came by to say word up.

last stop of the night was at a roller derby match-up. the San Francisco Bay City Bombers v.s. some other random team i dont remember. i have never been to a match and it was REALLY fun to watch. it was such a show, much like WWE. lots of fights, lots of energy and lots of crazy. i just came to the conclusion that i like watching crazy. weird. like must attract like. hahahah!! I had a lot of fun and would recommend to anyone that hasnt seen a roller derby match to go, like now!

anything is possible

 

Ashley for sure bough happiness when she got these guys. They have grown like weeds since the last time I saw them, which was way too long ago. I dont even know the name of them, but the color is just fantastical, they are such happy dudes!

A huge tomato plant in the back yard pretty much took over things. obviously. however, no matter the mess that is there now, its still producing tomates. I am amazed at the difference in climate from my house to Ashley's. It has to be at least a 10-15 degree temp difference and the sun actually shines there! my tomate plant could use some sun, thats for sure!

 

 I spy....... a green cricket

 

and of course the bday cake! what we lacked in design, we made up for in creativity, thats for damn sure. chandra just made a simple brownie for all, which is always tasty!

So I think its the coolest thing to be able to have a backyard bbq in the middle of the city. i am slowing finding out that anything is possible in sf. gotta love that. :)

city garden goodness

a sweet harvest of lettuce. I am so proud of how well the lettuce is doing! I pretty much just wiped out the lettuce currently growing, but its not a bad thing, now I just need my lemon cucumber to grow! I suppose by the time a get a fruit from the fellow, the lettuce will be in full bloom again and I will have a complete salad...

I obviously couldnt keep the guy in that little pot he was originally, so he got an upgrade. found the rad ass pot in the backyard, I hope I get cucumbers from him...

the tomato plant isn't doing too bad, but still not the best. lettuce is cut down short due to recent dinners and the old chive failure just is chilling like always... and so the garden continues. I think I am going to try to find an artichoke plant.

cares will drop off like autumn leaves

I drove up to Tahoe, all by my lonesome to visit my Mom and Dad, who were celebrating his Birthday at Sugar Point Pines. Its a great camp spot, big sites, lots of biking trails and the lake nearby. It was a relaxing trip, filled with lots of biking, lots of good eats and beautiful flowers.... isnt that always the case in tahoe?

 how flippin cute are my parents here?! ok, now that we are past the cuteness, lets cut to the goodness: 

while on a bikeride into town, we stopped at a frozon yogurt place and i instantly knew what flavor i was getting. mountain blackberry. and here it is in all its grandeur. i have been craving the damn things since this encounter too... not good... and to the left we have pops enjoying his mountain blackberry yogurt. :)

above photo was taken while on a "bear walk", (something my dad has been forcing me to go on since i was a kid when we camp, around dark). many times these walks end up with me alone in the dark with either just my mom (who is in on the joke) or one or two of my girlfriends, and my dad sneaks off to the woods to only creep up on us later and scare the living shit out of us. this has happened many times... the worst being when i was about 12 and he told me a story of some outlandish make believe feline creature that existed only in northern California. to complete the story, later that night, he snuck off while we were on a nite walk and proceeded to make scary cat like sounds and then sneak up on me and my friends and scare the life out of us. it was very traumatizing. and i fully intend to do the same to my kids if i ever go that route. is that bad?

I love these dudes, such different looking little fellows... 

good eats lately

I made carrot cake cupcakes for my Dad's birthday on August 22, happy bday dad! they were amazing, the recipe i use is from barefoot contessa, and that bitch can bake! I do everything that she says, except i add a bit of nutmeg, and just use whatever oil i have around the house, whether it be vegetable or extra virgin, i dont seem to taste a difference. I cut down the frosting to at least half and its a perfect amount... i dont know what she is doing with all that frosting that the recipe calls for (maybe eating it, she is kinda a big lady, hehhehe).

Chandra came over to help, and make sure the cupcakes were up to eating standards, i think they were, she had like 3. but i am not judging, i think i had at least 2.

I secured two bananas that were aging fast from my mom after dad's birthday weekend. I rarely ever buy bananas, i am not a huge fan, and only force feed them to myself if I am 1. hungover or 2. no other fruit is available. alas, i am a fan of banana bread and this loaf turned out GREAT! I coulda used one more banana (i only had 2), but thats just me being picky..

YUM!

outside lands awesome-ness

                  some really rad iron artwork! i love these things, i feel like there is some dude that just makes these for festivals, because the past 3 or so festivals i have been to, these things have been there... well ok, not exactly the same things, but same concept. BUT i am not complaining, they are pretty gnarley.

 the strokes

 WolfMother

edward sharp and the magnetic zeros

 Chillin out at the Damian Marley and Nas show. I think this was my favorite show, pretty sure it was sam's too. the vibe at their set was just so uplifting and positive, i think i was smiling the whole time. :)

 kings of leon. they were the last band of the night on sunday, we stayed for a while, but were so beat by the time they went on that we only ended up staying for a few songs.

fleshly amusment for wordless wednesday, sorta

giants v. cubs, game 4

  kinda a rad shot, mid pitch

manic monday

August 1 marked the day that North Korea killed it in Beer Olympics. It turned out to be a beautiful day and Kim Jong Il (Sam) being the fearless leader he is, helped clench first place in beer pong. Below is our team, Kim Jong Il on the far right, and the P.O.W's to the left

 

And also, THE SUN came out! its been a while since we have seen it here in San Francisco, so it was good for him to hang while the games were going on.

Some pur-dy flowers in the massive back-yard. Flowers always make everything more awesome, and also, they make me happy. :)