San Franciso treat.. or trick

I think that I have lucked out having one of my best friends have their birthdays on Halloween.. it has led to many memorable birthday parties celebrating in SF, and of course... in full blown costume inspired by ipod ads. Its even more of a reason to go big with the costume.. and this year was no exception. Since Halloween was on a Saturday this year, Tim and I took off the Friday before to make the trek to the Bay to celebrate Shanna's birthday. A few minutes into the road trip, we had to make a U-turn back home because Tim was feeling pretty sick.

The show had to go on, so I kissed Tim and Elle goodbye and hit the road again, with two amazing homemade costumes in tow. (Luckily Carly didn't have a costume - and actually admitted this news to me - so she had to choice but to take Tim's place). I have to say that although I was really nervous about wearing black face paint (and Carly was not even committing to the costume until 30 minutes before go time), the costumes turned out really fun and we were super excited about them in the end. We even ended up winning a few of the costume contest categories!

The funniest part of the night was trying to hail a cab in the city in ALL black, no one could see us, and trying to find a black wig last* minute. (*5 minutes before the last open Halloween shop in the city [we had to go to a couple] was closing).

Best tastes of the night - This was my first taste of Golden Boy Pizza - basically fresh pizza made on top of the most amazing foccacia bread. ( Joel's 3am vegetarian nachos with homemade guacamole was also a huge winner... and I know I should mention the cupcakes (I won't mention their special name on the G-rated blog) however I can't bring myself to even talk about those things yet). PS recipe needed.

Most athletic part of the weekend: walking to touch Hoppers hands under the GG Bridge and getting a mini hula hopping lesson in a park Sunday morning with Shey.

black face paint = fully committed

Jeremy (Big), Jill (Carrie), me, Carly, Shanna, Joel (Noting Jeremy and Jill's costume because you can't see Carries shoes and facial mole)

summer is not dead

Although I am really excited for Halloween that just around the corner (... and especially this year when I will be in San Fransisco celebrating Shanna's birthday) I still can't help but be a little sad summer is coming to an end. Well, officially, it has already come to an end, but in so cal, we like to push the summer envelope.. and this is just what Jill, Shanna, and Carly and I did a few weekends ago!

There is nothing like spending time with some of your best friends for a weekend of sunning at the beach with bud light 40s (who knew?!), shameless I-don't-care-what-anyone-watching-thinks beach hula hoping, indulging in beer battered fried avocados and award winning guacamole at the Carpenteria Avocado Festival to hold onto summer!

Carly re-packing the cooler after we had a tip over cooler incident on the PCH

stopping traffic to take make sure our 40s are okay and cool

perfect day at the beach

Shanna was so happy with that corn!

beer battered fried avocado with sweet and spicy corn relish

Wagamama's yasai chilli men (stir fried chilli vegetables with tofu and soba noodles)

Wagamama's got me through (I should say around) British cuisine when Tim and I were living in the UK.. and recently I found this gem again (a going away gift from my friends at Waterstone's bookstore where I worked). A few weeks ago, I bought a package of Soba noodles after Martha did a show about this healthy noodle made from buckwheat. With my Soba noodles and a little encouragement, Tim played Japanese chef making one of the most flavorful and delicious Asian meals I have ever had.. now I just need a Wagamama fresh raw juice to go with it (or a trip to Boston or DC to visit their new US locations)!!

sweet red sauce spiked with chilli and ginger

tomatoes from our "garden"

stir fried vegetables (and tofu)

California Beer Festival

This weekend was the California Beer Festival.. in Ventura!! Tim, Kathy, Susan and I had such a fun time tasting all the local brews.. and some "secret" brews of some of the larger breweries. In all there were over 60 brews to try!. I got inspired again, to get Tim set up to brew for the annual Amgen Brew-B-Q where Amgen holds its own beer tasting festival for its employee's home brews! Just need a secret ingredient, winning composition... and this brew kit.

first rock band I have seen with a harp!

passed out at noon

brew brain

how did all our festival mugs end up at my house this morning?