28 Candles

Okay, there weren't 28 candles on a cake. But Chris did get three candles on his birthday breakfast. Other than the blueberry pancakes, we couldn't do much celebrating until Saturday because of work -- preps football started this week and Chris has been very busy. So, we went out last night for dinner and drinks with friends, and had a really good time.



The celebrating isn't over yet - the mud pie Chris requested (his second birthday dessert - gosh he is spoiled!) is in process. He might need it to drown his sorrows at the end of this Dodgers-Diamondbacks game ;)

Partisan ice cream?

The other night we went to Baskin Robbins for a late-night treat and noticed a new ice cream flavor:
I looked, but couldn't find any Obama-themed ice cream. Chris thought I was silly for asking, but I wanted to know. So I asked the girls behind the counter.

Me: "So, you have this Straight Talk Crunch."
Them: "Yeah."
Me: "Where's your Obama-themed ice cream?"
Them: Blank stares.
Me: "You don't have any?"
Them: "No."
Me: "Oh. Partisan ice cream."
Them: Giggles
Chris: "I'm surprised they knew what 'partisan' meant."

So when we came home I tried to look it up online. (About now Chris really started to think I was crazy.) I couldn't find anything on the Baskin Robbins web site, but apparently (according to a post on Yahoo answers) there is also supposed to be a "Whirl of Change" flavor. I wonder why our Baskin Robbins only had the one ...

Farmers Market

Summer in Reno is like winter in Yuma in that there are events all the time, (albeit the events here are typically done on a larger scale and draw more than just snowbirds -- even though there is no house made of lettuce.)

While some of the stuff isn't necessarily our cup of tea (aka, the Rodeo), we really enjoy the Sparks Hometowne Farmers Market. It runs every Thursday during the summer from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., which makes it very difficult for me to go with my work schedule, but we've managed to make a quick run for fruits and veggies on my break once or twice. Yesterday was the last one of the year (is summer really almost over?) and luckily I had the day off since I'm working Saturday. Other than fresh produce, the market has flowers, food vendors, live music and more.

We went with our friends Erin and Sandor, had some dinner, drank some beer, listened to the band, saw some rad mullets, bought some sweet white corn and peaches to take home, sat and visited for a while and had a really nice time.

We took this last photo for our friend Andrea, even though she probably already knows these state facts anyway:

I ate my way through the weekend

Chris spent the last weekend in Las Vegas for a bachelor party, so I headed to Quincy for the Plumas County Fair. I'm pretty sure I had more fun ;)

The food fest started before I even left, when I covered the Greek Festival for work on Friday and stuck around for my dinner break. I really wanted some moussaka, but the line for dinners were out the door so I settled for ala carte and had some pork souvlaki. I followed it up with loukomades - sinfully delicious Greek donuts drenched in honey and topped with cinnamon and chopped nuts.

Saturday morning I left for Quincy and, after a visit with my mom, went downtown to meet Lindsey for lunch at Morning Thunder where I had the Huevos Rancheros and she (was she trying to shame me?) had a fruit cup. We randomly spent the next hour and a half helping the class of '98 set up for their 10-year reunion, which explains the red and white balloons behind us.

Next, I headed over to Julia and Bob's new house, where I was staying for the night. They were the perfect hosts and their home is lovely. We went out with another couple, Jenny and Mark, for an Italian dinner at Moon's, had a walk around the fair, and went back to their house for vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. Julia and Bob and I chatted the night away sipping on champagne with peaches.

The hostess with the mostest and her cat, Norman

Sunday morning, Julia made oatmeal with fresh blueberries and maple syrup for breakfast. Later in the afternoon, my mom and I went to the fair for corn dogs, and to check out the crafts and other exhibits. We decided next year she should enter some photos and canned goods ... and now after seeing all the great stuff on display we both want to learn how to quilt.

All grown up?

Thanks to the hitching and the generosity of our family and friends, we have found ourselves with brand-new (matching!) bedroom furniture, complete (matching!) sets of dishes and silverware, a new grill (Chris can now grill more than two servings at a time!) and lots more.

Adding to that, we now refer to each other as "husband" and "wife" and it all seems grown-up beyond how I feel, and I wonder if I'll ever actually feel like an adult.

Will it hit me when we buy a house? When we start a family?

When my mom was my age, she already had a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old and it seemed as though she always knew the answer to everything -- and not just an answer, but the right answer. I was always confident that she always knew the right thing to do and the best way to do it ... if she was just figuring it out as she went, as I imagine I will, I never caught on. Maybe this is just the way children look at their parents ... and maybe nobody ever really feels grown up.

Our new bed and matching nightstands

Chris grilling up dinner

Weekend in SoCal

I made a quick trip down to the L.A. area over the weekend for my cousin Jennifer's baby shower. The shower was a lot of fun with a great group of ladies, good food and lots of goodies for the little one. It was nice to see everyone, spend some time with my Dad and Debbie and have a mellow family weekend. I also got to see my friend Becky and Carrie, another friend from San Jose State.

Me and the Momma-to-be

Georgie - Jen's nephew. He's too cute!

Carrie, Me and Becky at the Ports O'Call

Hair today, gone tomorrow

I giggled when I wrote the headline because yesterday I happened to overhear Chris and two of his fellow sports writers discussing their receding headlines. Hilarious!

But, back to the point: When Chris proposed last year, I had been growing out my hair to donate to Locks of Love, which I had done twice before. But I decided I wanted it long for the wedding and I'd wait until after the festivities to chop it all off ... so today was the day. I decided to go for an A-line bob, and went to a new hairdresser (who also happens to be Jeremy's sister) and I'm really happy with it. Hopefully I still like it tomorrow when I try to style it myself!

The beginning

This is the first post of what I hope will be many -- though it should be noted I've been meaning to get it up for about five days now.

Having recently done a story about sports blogs (sorry the link no works for free), I think they are a great way to get your thoughts about just about any subject out there and hope this is a model for Tammy and I to keep our friends and family in Arizona (that includes Yuma), California, D.C., Japan and many other locales abreast of what's going on up here. And believe me, there will be quite a bit of sports talk (or write) -- like Favre is getting what he deserves, he's no Jordan, and though last weekend was a wasted series in the standings it was nice to see the D-Backs gain a little separation on the Dodgers on Tuesday.

Basketball season will be big, but here's a little taste of the versatility of Steve Nash.

And here is an ode to two people I hope will be regular readers of these adventures, Laura and Kat. See if you can pick up the thievery in this Daily Show clip from last week (hints: pay attention to Rob Riggle and Jason Jones).

That's all I got for now.

The Honeymooners

For our honeymoon, we took a trip down the coast, spending three nights in Carmel and three nights in San Francisco.

I had made the reservations in my name, so when we checked into our hotel in Carmel there was a bottle of wine and a note to "Mr. and Mrs. Krikorian," which I thought was pretty hilarious and Chris not so much.

We had a nice, relaxing trip, but also managed to squeeze in a lot of activities: We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, took the 17-mile drive, drove to Big Sur, visited the Steinbeck Museum in Salinas, saw Cabaret, saw the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the SFMOMA, went to two Diamondbacks-at-Giants games at AT&T Park (the D-backs won both), and went to Alcatraz.

Of course, we also ate lots of really good food - we even both tried caviar for the first time (it was a garnish on lobster ravioli. Yum!) and I managed to get Chris to share a bottle of wine with me at dinner one night!

Sardines at the aquarium

Obligatory photo of the Lone Cypress

At the Steinbeck Center

On the way to Alcatraz

At the ball game