Casa de Gabel

In case any of you haven't heard, we bought a house!!! We got the keys on Friday right after work, picked up Scoop and headed straight there. (The above photos were taken a couple weeks ago, the rest were taken yesterday.) We are so excited to have our first house. It is two stories and four bedrooms and has a pantry (which if you've ever been on the phone with me while I'm cooking you know is a big effing deal, as Joe Biden would say ... )

Keys!!!

Entering the house for the first time as homeowners

It was Scoop's first time there so she was checking everything out (we may have also made her pose for a couple shots) and I think she's really going to like having a yard.

Chris and Scoop, checking out the new view

Our first dinner in our first house! (No, we don't plan on making this a habit, but it might be bad for us to live close to Sonic ... especially since our commute will more than double ;-)

We can't wait for all of our friends and family to come visit us in our new place (yes, I am subtle)!

Now, what shade of yellow will Tammy choose for the half-bath? Will Chris and Tammy ever agree on the appropriate location for the coat rack? What will they find to fill the large, formal dining area ... or will they fill it at all? Stay tuned for more adventures in moving to find out the answers to these burning questions and more!

The Rest

Here are a few more pictures from the rest of my spring break. One afternoon I went to pick Andrea up from work (it was quite the production trying to re-learn how to drive a stick shift. I stalled out at least a dozen times in two days. It was super embarrassing. I'm just glad I didn't crash Jeremy's car). Anyway, when I got there I got to go in and see her classroom.

One night we went to cocktails with one of Dre's friends ...
She was pretty interested in the ocean view ...
I was pretty excited to discover that my cocktail matched my shirt.

On my last morning there, we hit up Mrs. Olson's for some pancakes and then went for a walk on the beach.

It was pure luck to get this reflection shot of Andrea. I'm glad I saw it before she turned around.

I couldn't believe it was warm enough to dip my toes in the water (this morning there was more snow in Reno. Ugh.)

The trip was really great, and I'm glad I got to see so many of my friends and family and spend a few days with my old roomie!

Santa Barbara

One afternoon on my trip, Andrea and I decided to spend a few hours in Santa Barbara. I'd driven through many times before, but I don't think I've ever stopped. We had a great time walking around seeing old buildings, doing a little shopping and enjoying the gorgeous spring weather. There was snow on the ground when I left Reno Saturday morning, so it was really nice to see flowers in bloom!

This tree (above) is in front of an old courthouse built in the 1920s (below). It's a beautiful old mission-style building with a clock tower we went out on to see a view of the city, amazing tile work and stained glass windows.

This courtroom we went in had a large mural that covered all four walls. I've always been fascinated with California history, and the missions along the coast begun by Junipero Serra, so it was really neat to see. (In case you were wondering, I've only been in one of the missions, in Carmel, and it was pretty creepy, especially given what I've read about Junipero Serra and his treatment of the Indians. Also, according to an interesting tidbit I saw on a PBS special once, the founding of the missions had less to do with the spreading of Christianity than with Spain wanting to get a hold on California before the Russians made it down from Alaska to claim the land.)
These roses outside of the library were too pretty not to stop and take a picture.
It was quite a lovely afternoon!

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day was a really fun day. It started off with breakfast with Lindsey before she went to work. She told me she just earned her SAG eligibility, and I'm so happy for her! We had a nice visit, though I wish it could have been longer!

My hot cocoa was very festive!

Later in the day, I headed up to Andrea's in Ventura County. My former roomie and I are both half Irish, so we enjoy spending March 17 together. We joined some of her coworkers for a drink, and then the two of us headed to dinner.

This is my corned beef and cabbage - my mom used to make it every year for St. Patrick's Day. Yum!
We had a fun time, but didn't stay out too late - instead we came home to relax and Skype with Michelle, who was home with a sick Olivia. We are so excited to go see the V-Team this summer!

Based on the picture texts I was receiving from Reno, I think Chris had a fun St. Patrick's Day, too!

Erin Go Bragh!

Fun Times

So, on Saturday after the racetrack Dad and I headed home to Deb, Becky came over and the four of us went out to dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant owned by Armenians-from-Lebanon who are friends of Dad and Deb. The food and the company were great! The next day, Becky picked me up and we went for a lovely Sunday morning hike overlooking the ocean.

She dropped me off with Jen and the adorable Juliette who is so much fun, running all over the place and talking up a storm! After lunch, we went to the park for a while. I was glad to be able to spend the night at their house and spend some time visiting.

On Tuesday, Deb and I headed to the Grammy Museum where they have a limited-time exhibit of the Wertheimer photos "Elvis at 21." The pictures are of Elvis on the brink of stardom and it's amazing the access Wertheimer had and the intimacy he achieved in the photos.

The museum overall was really fun, too, with a lot of listening stations and interactive activities. Deb and I both played the drums.

We had a fun time and a nice lunch afterward. Thanks for going with me, Deb!

Spring Break - Off to a Good Start

On Saturday, I flew into Southern California to spend my Spring Break with family and friends. My Dad picked me up from the airport, and we headed straight for Santa Anita. We were excited to see Zenyatta run, and coincidentally my uncle had a horse in that day so we were able to have lunch with him as well.

It was really exciting to see Zenyatta run. She hung back for most of the race, and then at the last minute took the lead for her 15th consecutive win!

The crowd was going wild for the filly, and my Dad and I were lucky enough to be able to go into the winner's circle after the race.

Also in the winner's circle: Dennis Farina and Dustin Hoffman (you may recall I also saw Dustin Hoffman at the inauguration last year. Also, these were the first of several celebrity sightings this trip - Bo Derek was also at the track, two days later Deb and I saw George Newbern at lunch, and the following day Lindsey and I saw Rod Stewart at breakfast. P.S. I use the word "celebrity" loosely. P.P.S. My mom calls Rod Stewart "Rod the Bod.")

I was so focused on getting a picture of Mike Smith and Zenyatta I'm afraid I may have ruined the winner's circle photo. But, in any case, we had a really good time!

A Tale of Two Vegas Trips: Part 2 (Edward's 30th Birthday)

So, I think we can all agree that my sister and Miguel had a pretty awesome first trip to Vegas, no? There was some talk about topping their onesie pajamas when we went, but everyone agreed there was just no topping that. Our trip was a little different than theirs. We were going to meet some of our Arizona friends to celebrate Edward's 30th birthday. Edward, Daniel and Chris arrived on Thursday and had some fun times without wives around to nag them, and I was the next to arrive about 7:30 the next morning. Since I knew the girls would be hours away at that point, I offered to shoot some video in the area for my internship, and they sent me out to Red Rock Canyon, which was so pretty! Who knew there were such beautiful natural wilderness areas so close to Las Vegas?

I got back to the hotel just after Melynda, Holly and Terri arrived so all of us went to a buffet for a late lunch. After I napped and the rest of the girls did some shopping, we decided to get ready to "go out." Although, we ended up spending a lot of time chatting and having cocktails in the room while we got ready and it was really late by the time we made it downstairs to find a place for dinner. First we stopped to say hello to the boys who were playing Pai Gow poker.

Terri and I with the Birthday Boy

Then we had some random dude who we'd seen in the elevator earlier take our picture. While this was happening, Kelli and Kyle arrived in the lobby, so it was still a while before we ever had dinner. After we ate, we found the boys again ...

Chris was losing, so we called it a night ...

After a Margaritaville lunch on Saturday, the girls headed off to check out the new hotel and do some shopping while the boys watched the ASU game. (Of course, we had to stop at the Bellagio to see the water show on the way).

Later we all got dressed up and headed to the Hilton for Edward's birthday dinner at Benihana. My friend Elvis was outside when we arrived.

There were some sake bombs ...

and onion rings of fire.

Here's all of us (minus Kyle) after dinner.

We all did a little gambling at the Hilton, and then headed back to our hotel.

Yes, there are six people in the back of the car. Nine in total.

We had all fully intended on going out once we got to the hotel, but once again we were having so much fun chatting it up in the room (and this time toasting Baby Windtberg due in August) that instead we just stayed there and enjoyed each other's company.

It was a really great weekend with friends that Chris and I don't get to see often enough. I hope Edward had a good birthday weekend, because we sure had fun celebrating it with him!