49er Game

Our fabulous seats.

The players coming out of the locker room

                                                         

December 12, we went to the 49ers game in San Fran to watch them play against the Seahawks. We were fortunate enough to see their best game of the season! The final score was 40-21. I forgot my camera :( so these two pictures are from my phone. 

Wine Tasting Weekend

I made the drive to be with all my closest girls from high school in Sonoma County this weekend for Corynn's 22nd birthday. It was a weekend filled with great friends, amazing food, and tasty wine!

Friday I arrived after the long 5 hour drive, I was more than relieved when I arrived to what Corynn and her roommates call "the chicken farm." (They have chickens and live in a house on a farm in Petaluma.) The first thing I saw was this adorable puppy in the picture below, who was Corynn's roommate Hillary's friends puppy (whew! confusing!)  He was just visiting for the day, and boy was I happy to get to play with him for a little! That evening, Corynn and I drove to Berkley and met up with Katie, Leslie and Kindah. We ate a yummy dinner and headed back to the chicken farm for the night. 

Saturday I woke up to a fantastic breakfast made by Corynn's roommate Christina. She made home made cinnamon rolls! I grew up never liking maple syrup, or cinnamon rolls in general but boy were these AMAZING. After letting breakfast settle, we got ready and headed out to Healdsberg to go wine tasting. We ended up going to quite a few wineries, but my favorite by far was Williamson Wines tasting room. They paired each of their wines with hors devoures. My favorite was the cabernet sauvignon paired with irish cheddar topped with blue cheese, and a pecan drizzled with honey. Mmmmmm. 

That evening we had another amazing home cooked meal, and gathered in the living room to sing Corynn "Happy Birthday." I ended up going to bed pretty early since I had to make the trek home in the morning.  Even though I can barely pull my jeans over my booty, I had so much fun getting to spend time with my girls! Here are some pictures. :)

Me & Brr the pup

Downtown Healdsberg, it's nice to see the leaves change color! You don't get that much around SLO.

First stop, Williamson Winery!

Sean & the birthday girl looking confused.

Just being silly :) 

From left: Leslie, Corynn, Christina, Katie

Group photo at Hauck tasting room

Toad Hollow

Another group shot at Toad Hollow

Leslie & I at Portalupi tasting room

(They paired one of their wines with cheetos!)

Corynn blowing out her birthday candles. :)

Thanksgiving with the Tristao Family

Every year, my Mom, Sister and I do an all in one day trek to Tulare to visit with my Mom's side of the family. This year was an exciting one because it was the first time we brought our boys. So Thanksgiving morning, we all hopped in the car and headed to our cousin Dennis' house with Turkey and stuffing on our mind. :) Everyone loved Ryan & Jon, and my sister and I enjoyed having them there to meet our family. I especially look forward to the traditional Portuguese stuffing my family makes every year, so it was also interesting having them both try it! I still don't think there is anyone who loves it as much as I do! That Sunday, my sister and I had a mini Thanksgiving meal with our Dad in Paso Robles and ate yummy duck with rice and veggies. Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving/Thanksgiving weekend.

My sister & Jon playing pool in our cousin's game room

Ryan very comfy & sleepy after tons of turkey

Amanda & I (the new haircut too)

At Cafe Stravaganza in Carmel

Dad's house for our mini Thanksgiving

Dad overlooking Heritage Ranch

Big Change

I spent the last 3 years growing my hair out so it would be long and healthy. Once I did, I decided it was time for a change (figures.) As I pondered which haircut I would choose, I remembered my friend who donated her hair to locks of love, so I looked up their website. Locks of Love is an organization where people donate their hair (10 inches or more.) That hair is made into a wig for a child with an illness that causes hair loss. I arrived at my hair appointment very nervous, my long hair was like my security blanket! They put my hair into a ponytail and snipped away. As I was getting my hair cut, one of the hair stylists approached me and said with tears in her eyes how happy she was that I was doing this, because as a child she had alopecia and lost all of her hair. This made me feel even better about what I was doing. I ended up cutting off around 11 inches, and I am so happy I did. There's a child out there who needs hair more than I do. :)

Oregon vs. Cal Game

On November 13, I went to the Oregon vs. Cal game with my family friends & my Mom. We left at around 10:30, and had a BBQ at our family friends house in San Francisco near Ocean Beach. It was gorgeous that day! Perfect temperature for a walk on the beach & a BBQ. Soon after we drove to Berkley, parked, and got a bus to the Cal Stadium. It was SO packed! There were 65,000 people in attendance, aka completely sold out! Although the game was not too exciting (Oregon won 15 to 13), I still had a lot of fun catching up with old friends and getting to spend some time with my Mom. Little did I know my mom is a closet football freak! It was very entertaining seeing how she acted at the game. :) I had never been to a college football game, but after that I would definitely go to one again. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

That day at Ocean Beach, SF, hundreds of jelly fish had washed up on shore. The next day on bay area news they were talking about it!

The BBQ at the Downer's relatives house in SF.

My Mom & I celebrating the victory

Cal Stadium

Mom & Sonia