Hooo

We recently spotted this guy in our backyard:

He was ginormous (about a foot and a half tall - just look at his talons) and very cool to see in person. Especially after I found out that owls are good luck signs! I mean, I have my seven years of good luck for kissing the sting ray in Grand Cayman but a girl could always use more ; )

Max and I were especially happy to see this new guy after the lil' accident we had last fall with a baby owl. You see, Max had heard some noise outside and thought that there was a pigeon trying to get into the attic (bad). So he took out the garden hose and sprayed the "pigeon" which turned out to be a very startled owl. The baby owl was not happy being all wet.

We felt awful.

The owl just looked so hurt. His eyes were saying: Why did you do this to me?

And he was such a tiny little thing!

So we're glad to be back to good with these guys. I even ordered this owl wreath from Paper Source. I thought it was very Halloween-y. It's going to arrive as a bunch of paper I have to put together so here's hoping mine looks like the picture ; )

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25 Hours In San Diego

Max and I just returned from 25 hours in San Diego. Why the short trip? Max's buddy from grad school was getting married and we wouldn't miss it!

Our trip started off at Phoenix Sky Harbor mid-morning with a Steve Nash spotting. I have to say I was very proud of myself for recognizing him. I'm only able to identify about three basketball players (and two of them only because they are married to Kardashians) so seeing him was perfect. He was in front of us going through security and requested one of the pat downs instead of going through the new scanner. Of course seeing him go through security brought up lots of questions. Shouldn't he have his own plane? Or be flying private? Is he really taking a commercial flight? There was a group of women also trying to figure out if it was indeed him. I heard them commenting on his (lack of) height but I'm pretty sure he's on the short side for being a basketball player.

Max and I arrived in San Diego after just 45 minutes in the air and checked in at Hotel Indigo, a great modern hotel downtown.

The bride and groom had left little goodies:

What sweet touches! (I should have used the sunscreen because I ended up with a pink nose after our day in the sun!)

We lunched in the downtown area.

Fish Tacos for me!

After lunch we took the trolley over to Navy Pier to visit the maritime museum on the USS Midway. The vessel was commissioned in the 1940's and was named after the Battle of Midway, which was fought near Midway Atoll. Max has actually been to Midway Atoll for part of his grad school duties. It was this tiny island in the Pacific that the Japanese planned to occupy after the attack on Pearl Harbor (luckily their plans were intercepted and the Navy was ready). The island has been used in the past by the military for gaining intelligence (it was an underwater listening post for tracking Soviet submarines in the Cold War) but is now a wildlife refuge with much of the equipment just left behind.

On the flight deck of the USS Midway:

Max had been to the USS Midway museum once before as part of a group who rented out the entire vessel for a conference. He has a photo from that day snapped in this very same spot in front of a display made by one of his previous employers.

The hubs was my own personal tour guide : ) I was fascinated by this jet engine. Looking inside, Max showed me that there are layers and layers of blades, which create the great pressure build up (I had never before thought about how they worked!).

While out on the flight deck, we spotted this hovercraft. Seeing one in person was wild!

We were just in time to see the Coast Guard do a practice Search and Rescue demonstration.

The helicopter actually dropped someone in!

The flight deck was full of awesome planes and weapons which my hubby knew all about. I especially liked seeing the heat seeking missiles. Did you know that there is an infrared camera on each one, and that's how they do the actual seeking? Very neat! The hubs teaches me oh-so much ; )

By that evening we were at Diamond Tower in the Sky Box for this lovely ceremony overlooking the Pacific and San Diego.

The Bride and Groom were so in love!

I snapped a photo of the Stanford boys:

And jumped in for a photo of the Stanford boys + wives:

The view from the balcony was amazing - we could even see into Petco Park!

Max was a hit with his new cufflinks from his mom. Each one is a power button (you know - like on a Mac) that actually glows!

This photo we snapped before we danced the night away. So long, San Diego!

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Labor Day Weekend + Mini Home Improvements

Last weekend Max's sweet mamma came out to visit from Texas!

She brought fun personalized "Mrs. Klein" notebooks for my classroom that she made herself!

She visited me and the firsties on Friday and they just couldn't get over the fact that there were two Mrs. Kleins in the room! They cracked their first grade selves up with comments like "If I say 'Mrs. Klein I need help' then they'll both come over! Ahhh ha hah hah ha!"

Since it was Labor Day weekend, we all went out hunting for sales and goodies for the house. Max picked out this rug at Home Goods with the colors I had been searching for:

And we picked up this adorable faux coral lamp that Max's mom found at Pier One (it of course reminds us of our SCUBA adventures):

We also tackled this green giant in our formal room:

It was time for the turquoise to come down:

Buh-bye.

And it was time to put up our ooey gooey new crystal chandelier! I say "new" but it's been actually just sitting on the floor for the past few months, waiting, waiting, waiting (it seemed like a daunting task to put it together). It took all three of us (plus three pairs of Swarovski approved gloves) to hang the many, many crystals but the final product was so worth it!

Up until now this room had been empty (or used for storage, sawing etc.) so with our new china cabinet, it's finally looking like an actual formal dining room! Yipee!!

We chose a diningroom table at Thomasville (thank you Labor Day sales), and the room is waiting patiently until it's delivered.

Now we're searching for a rug and chairs. I have my eye on these ones from Home Decorators Collection:

Cute, no? I love the pops of color! We're just a little hesitant to purchase them online without sitting in them and testing them out first, though they're on sale for the next three days so we're going to have to make a decision soon!

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Two Years!

Max and I celebrated our two year anniversary last weekend with a trip to Las Vegas!

The trip was a complete surprise to me. I knew we were going out of town, and was told to have my bag packed and to be ready for our "road trip" right after school on Friday. Imagine my shock when our road trip ended at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport! Max left me guessing even after going through security until we heard an announcement for Vegas! Here I am with our plane tickets to Las Vegas in hand, complete with my "scary happy" face:

We spent Saturday playing (and winning) Black Jack : ) I had six "Black Jacks" in the course of two hours - I think it was that anniversary luck! We also browsed around the Venetian shops for things we really can't afford like Peter Lik photographs and ginormous chandeliers : )

We saw this couple get married on their gondola ride!

Our evening plans were a surprise to me as well! We dined here at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at the Paris Hotel!

We had a fabulous table that allowed us to see the Bellagio water shows while we were dining!

So happy in love...

Soooo ready for the chocolate soufflé ;)

The view from dinner:

Love The Strip at night!

Second surprise of the night - front and center seats for Cirque du Soleil's "O"!

Max and I had seen "O" once before and were completely amazed. The entire production is done in and above water, and the artists are constantly diving in and disappearing. We're guessing there's some intricate SCUBA system going on underwater. If you're going to Vegas, hands down we think it's the show to see! Ah-mazing!

And for places to stay, we say the Venetian all the way!

Every room is a suite!

The Venetian is also home to yummy restaurants like Emeril Lagasse's Table 10:

And gelato stands...

Lei piace gelato. (See? My Learn Italian In Your Car CD is working!)

After many hours of playing Black Jack, by Sunday afternoon we were still quite a bit ahead! We made sure to take a photo with some of the winnings - two hundred dollar chips for two fantastic years of marriage!

Saying good-bye to the strip...

Venetian, we'll be back!

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