Willow Grace

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A Week In The Life: Day 7

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 06:12:00 +0000

Well, this will finish up the series, even though I'm late in posting, at least i finished it. I'm just OCD enough that ending a week long challenge on day 6 would annoy me, even though I'm wrapping up day 7 three days late.

Sunday was my 7th day in this challenge. We were at the cabin, a relaxing, sitting around reading or watching tv type of day. Lunch was stir-fry veggies and dinner was spaghetti with sauce from a jar. so not even our food was blog worthy. but we went down to the "big" city of Sonora (population 4,400) to pick out the towel racks and TP holder for the bathroom addition. Since my day 7 was pretty mundane, I thought now would be a good opportunity to show you how far along we are with the new bathroom addition.

The last time I did an update was in December. Well, that's only partially true. In January, I gave a fun shopping update showing some of the things we were hoping to purchase.

It's finally time to show a we-are-almost-there update.
This is the view from the hallway and kitchen. The door isn't on yet, soon, maybe this week. It doesn't look it, but the flooring is in, but that piece of plywood is there to protect it.

Stepping into the bathroom, you can see the full shower. We just picked out the shower doors on Monday and should be installed within 2 weeks.

Here's what it looks like with the solar tube. The previous photos were taken at night. We are so in love with the solar tube and can't believe how much light it lets in. This photo really doesn't do it justice, but even still, you can tell that it gives a good amount of light, it almost looks like the solar tube is a florescent light.

The vanity mirror and lights.

The vanity.

Sink and faucets.

So we went with blue paint and dark wood. We're excited about the pattern of the swanstone and really happy with our choices and even happier that nothing clashes. You just never know when you're looking at color swatches that are so small.

Once this bathroom is done, our contractor will start working on the new deck. Permits permitting.
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A Week In The Life: Day 6

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:08:00 +0000

saturday we left the bay area around 2:45 and headed to the hideaway. it was another gorgeous day so we decided to take a different route though Brentwood and Stockton so instead of the usual 2.75 hr drive, it took us a little over 5 hours of enjoying the scenery and going down the road less travelled.

The wind turbines line the road all the way into Brentwood. These are part of the Altamont Pass Wind Farm, the largest wind farm in the country.

Highway 4 is called the California Delta Highway all the way into Stockton because it follows the the San Joaquin River, which is the 2nd longest river in California and used to irrigate many of the farms in the central valley.

Pretty horse near the delta.

Getting into Stockton.

Just a few weeks ago, California's Gold, a PBS travel show that features many natural, cultural and historical sites our state, featured the "Little Manila" of Stockton. In the late 20s and early 30s, the Filipino immigrants came to Stockton to find work in the farms. I wonder if my dad ever worked in Stockton.

The program featured an beautiful old Catholic church and Jimmy and i spent about an hour trying to find this church. Unsuccessful, we gave up and decided to get back on the road to the hideaway. Just as we were about to get on the highway, I saw another tall church spire and asked if we could just check that last one. It's funny how that works, isn't it? Yes, it was the church we were looking for.

There used to be a park across the street from that church and it was the gathering spot for the Filipino community.Opposite the church on the other side of the park was where many of the Filipino immigrants called home. However in 1972 a highway was built right through the park. Many of the fiipino families were displaced and had to move to different parts of the city.

A small historic sign is the only indication of Little Manila.

Heading out of Stockton into the foothills are dozens of cattle ranches.with thousands and thousands of cows roaming the green hills.

These are the stars of the California Happy Cow commercials. LOL.

Heading higher into the foothills. Calaveras County.

Serbian Orthodox Church in Angels Camp.

Downtown Angels Camp.

Between Angels Camp and Sonora is the istoric site of Mark Twain's cabin on Jackass Hill.

Downtown Sonora, about 20 minutes from the hideaway and is the county seat of Tuolumne County.

Dinner in Sonora at Jeb's Hill Country Cookin'. Jimmy got a salmon filet and I got an 8oz prime rib. Our bill was less than $30. I'd give it a 3 1/2 stars and would certainly go back.

By 8:30, we were up at the hideaway, relaxing for the rest of the night.

Here are a few California Happy Cow commercials. Because unless you're in California, you might not be familiar with them and how clever they are.

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A Week In The Life: Day 5

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 21:41:00 +0000

Friday was a good day where we didn't get home till after midnight.
Jimmy had a meeting in the city so of course i tagged along.

First on my agenda was lunch. Ironically, I found myself at the San Francisco Shopping Centre. mallfood? Seriously? With all of the great food in SF, I end up eating mall food. Well, this wasn't your normal food court. No Panda Express or Hotdog on a Stick. No siree, in fact, most of the vendors are bay area based. And your food is plated on real plates with real silverware. And the prices aren't any more than regular mall food. this chicken arugula salad with soda was $7. Truthfully though, as tasty it was, i wouldn't recommend it because you're still eating in a mall foodcourt when there are so many other great places with better views.

After lunch, I was walking on Powell Street towards Union Square and this truck pulled up with this huge crate. ummm...wonder what's in it?? Although, there were no vent holes, so who knows if it was serious or not. The marking on the box indicated that it was from the California Academy of Sciences though.

Did I leave my heart in San Francisco? Absolutely. And so did a lot of other people and artists. This particular heart was left in Union Square.

I recently heard about Britex Fabrics from some facebook chatter, so I had to pop in and check it out. 4 floors of fabric and notions. I was out of my league.

but was loving the eye candy. shhh...i saw the "No Photography" sign after i took this shot.

It was a gorgeous day to walk to Chinatown.

Kitty Kat graffiti in an alleyway on Pine Street.

After walking and window shopping for the last 2 hours, I ended up at the Museum Store at SFMoMA. Such fun stuff in that store.
There's a nice little cafe in the museum, too. I gave myself permission to enjoy a latte and cookie while people watching. I saved most of the cookie for Jimmy because I suspected he'd need a little energy pick-me up after his long meeting.

Yerba Buena Gardens is right next to SFMoMA. It was nearly 5pm, so I stayed nearby Jimmy's meeting, not knowing exactly how long he would be.

The sunny, almost warm (mid 60s) day beckoned the city dwellers to the large lawn at the gardens.

The tall Jukebox looking building is the Marriott. St. Patrick Church in the foreground was founded in 1851.

I bought a fun book at the museum store called "All Over Coffee". All Over Coffee is a featured strip in the SF Chronicle.
Jimmy's meeting lasted longer than expected. Originally I planned on waiting at Yerba Buena Gardens, but once the sun disappeared, it got cold fast. so i was thankful that the Marriott was nearby. I hung out in the lobby till I got a call from Jimmy that he was done.

But truthfully, our fun day was just starting.
Because the best part of the day was going to dinner at the Bowens.
And playing football with the kiddos.
Then tucking them in at bedtime.
And hanging out with Ed and Angie, talking till midnight.
Love that family like they are family.
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A Week In The Life: Day 4

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 05:21:00 +0000

um.
i got nothin'.
didn't break out the camera at all today.
because nothing noteworthy happened.
didn't even craft.
except I would have appreciated at least 4 hours of sleep last night. I guess that explains why I had a headache most of the day. duh! I just realized it's probably related.

But I'd love to share with you another one of my favorite snacks.
My cousin told me about these last year. or the year before. they are so delicious and the perfect size for that chocolate craving. At 90 calories, 6 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber, you can have one a day and not feel guilty. And it's "a better way to get your daily probiotics." They're in the diary section of your grocery store near the yogurt.

In honor of earth day and my personal stance on bottled water:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Oh! A small victory ending in a little defeat-
I hadn't had any soda in over a month. I almost went 5 weeks without any caffeinated carbonated sugar (or aspartame in my case) brown liquids. But I admit that I had a diet coke with lunch today. and 2 refills. going back to the moderation plan pronto!

Alrighty, bring on Friday! I've got lots planned.
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A Week In The Life: Day 3

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:05:00 +0000

I missed posting last night because we didn't have power till after midnight. Long story regarding that, so I'll lead into it.

Wednesday started out with the regular routine.Enjoyed surprisingly sweet strawberries for breakfast.

Happy package from Fedex. Tickets to see Peter Pan in San Francisco in June.

Around 4:30, Jimmy and I were both in the office when we heard a very loud crash. Funnily, I heard a cracking sound, Jimmy said he also heard the crunching of metal. We had to investigate.

In the backyard, we immediately noticed that the oak tree that covers 3/4 of our yard was gone and we saw this:
gulp.

We called the landlord then went next door to investigate.
The 30 foot Oak Tree, fallen. The culprit of all the noise and the reason the cement in our yard was pulled up. The root system of the tree just popped the cement off.
We live on the other side of the fence to the left, in front of the grey car.

This is the top of the tree. Just grazed that other car.

Unfortunately, that red car didn't do so well.

Firecrew came to check it out.

They assess the situation. The biggest concern was that the tree was pulling tight on the electrical wires and the transformers were sparking and popping. Power went out about 1/2 hr after the tree fell.

You can see that it was pouring rain. We had a lot of rain this winter and I guess the soil under the tree just gave way.

Thankfully, no one was in the cars when the tree fell.
Thankfully, the tree fell in that direction. Otherwise it would have fallen on our roof.
Thankfully, it's an office building back there and thankfully, it was mostly contained to the parking lot.

Jimmy moved the swing and we got another perspective.
Hello neighbors in the brick house. Nice to see you. They have 2 Doberman Pinchers. Thankfully not in the yard when the tree fell. Part of the tree fell on their garage and also busted part of their fence.

A view of the unfortunate car from our yard.

Powerlines and trees aren't compatible. Electricity was out for 6 hours.

Thankfully I already had plans to go to Kristina's to craft. Lots of fun with the added bonus of not having to spend the evening in a dark house with no power. Jimmy had hockey, so he was out of the house, too.

I got home after 10p. I was super happy that I my OTT Light, used for crafting, is cordless and was fully charged. But it only lasts 2 hours and I had no idea how much longer the power would be out. PG&E were still in my backyard, up on a crane, trying to get the power back on for the block.

So I decided to light some candles. Nice warmth coming out of this sucker, too. Bonus. But luckily, our heat is gas, so we weren't in danger of freezing overnight.

I was also grateful that my laptop was fully charged. No wifi, no internet, but I could watch movies till the battery died!

Power came on just after midnight and Jimmy came home from hockey 15 minutes later.

Quite a lot of excitement for a normal boring humpday. Considering how badly the situation could have gone, we are really grateful that no one was hurt. The owner of that car is unhappy, i'm sure, but again considering what could have happened, the blessings have to be counted. If the tree had fallen the other way, it would have fallen right on our home, into our living room and probably breaking the window of the office. Jimmy sits right next to that window.

Anyone want my mundane week? lol!!!
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A Week In The Life: Day 2

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 06:17:00 +0000

I get my allergy shots every Tuesday, so yipee...that was on my agenda today. I'm reading "The Book of Joe" by Jonathan Tropper thanks to Rosemary's recommendation. Only on chapter 6 because I'm the worlds slowest reader, but I love the story so far. After I get my shots, I have to wait 30 minutes in the office so they can monitor me in case I have a reaction. Prime reading time and I think I've bought 90% of my books for my Kindle in that office.

I also got my hair cut. I needed it. I haven't gotten it cut since June. I looked like Cousin Itt:I suppose I could show you an after, but really, it looks like all the other haircuts i've had before and ya'll don't really need to see that again. But can I just announce to the world that I love the woman who cuts my hair? And who else loves getting their hair washed at the salon?

Our nephew Derek celebrated his 24th birthday today.This is Jimmy and Derek in Muir Woods in 1995. oh how i love flashback photos. :D

Blog browsing today, while on Ali's, she linked to Lisa Leonard Designs, a jewelry designer.Love this very much.

Lastly, this is my new favorite snack - Fruit Sorbet by Jamba Juice:Picked it up at the grocery store yesterday. YUMMY! And only 70-90 calories, 1-2 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber. Which translates to only 1 weight watcher point if you care about keeping track of that sort of thing.

Hope you had a good Tuesday. Good night!
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A Week In The Life: Day 1

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 05:42:00 +0000

Last December I participated in Ali Edward's Daily December. This week, she's suggested that we participate in documenting "A Week In The Life", from April 19-25th. Truthfully, my life is terribly mundane, aside from a few adventures I'm lucky enough to enjoy from time to time. But day to day...pretty much...nothingness. But I think that's what she's trying to let us all be aware of, that even what we think is merely boring day to day activities, they are important in their own way.

So I decided to participate in her challenge. I'll try to refrain from documenting the blahdeblah that's completely insignificant, like say, walking from the office to the kitchen to the living room. to grab a snack then plop down in front of the tv. but I might include in-progress crafting projects, what i made for dinner, who I hung out with and my favorite tv shows.

Yes. Terribly mundane. But it's just a week. So prepare yourselves to be bored silly.

So to start the week off...drum roll please...I finished last month's playgroup project that Kristina hosts. These are some of my fav cards we've created from her class. I try to get together with her once a month and we create 6 different cards, 2 of each. I'm getting together with her again on Wednesday.

On a more serious note, today was the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.
These chairs on this lawn is the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. There are a total of 168 chairs, each chair representing a life that was lost on that infamous day.
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Sue Sylvester: You have enough product in your hair to season a wok.

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 06:22:00 +0000

Fun nite at Kristina's making a couple of cute projects:

Got home in time to watch the new season of Glee!
HI-larious!!!
Sue Sylvester is the snarky cheerleading coach in Glee and glee club's nemesis. She's also the star of this video.
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Wontons

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:48:00 +0000

Every now and then I get a craving for my mom's wontons. They were yummy and believe it or not, Jimmy likes them. In fact, his whole family likes them. Trouble is, they are not good for you. I know I don't look like I am the picture of good health and nutrition, but even I know that eating deep fried food should not be consumed with much frequency. So I only make these once or twice a year.

the basic ingredients are simple: wonton wrappers, seasoned ground beef, water to use as glue and canola oil to fry. Please ignore the date on the wonton wrappers, this particular photo is from dec 06. but i forgot to take pics of the-before-frying-steps so went back to my archives. i really didn't serve my family wonton wrappers that expired in feb 07.

My ground beef is seasoned with unmeasured amounts of garlic powder, onion powder or 1/4 of an onion, pepper and soy sauce. If you want to follow my mom's tradition, you'd add MSG, too. But I avoid it because I ate enough of it growing up to last me 7 lifetimes.

I work on a plate, plop a wrapper down, a little bit of ground beef, again eyeballed so it's not too big that the wrapper will split when closed but not too small that you feel jipped out of a tasty meatball.

You'll want to fold the wrapper over the meatball, making it into a triangle. Slide your finger, that you've just dipped in water, around 2 of the edges to seal the triangle closed.

Here's the tricky part, and I don't really know how to write how to do it. But you want your wonton to look like this:All you do is hold the triangle in your non-dominant hand with the long edge (folded side) up. put a dab of water on the wrapper right next to the meatball then fold and pinch the other side up and sort of around the meatball so the back side of the wrapper hits that dab of water so you can pinch it so it's 'glued' together. Making sure the whole time that your wrapper doesn't split. And it depends on if you're left or right handed which side of the meatball you'll put the dab of water. If you're right handed, you'll put it on the left side of the meatball, left handed on the right side of the meatball.

Did you follow that? I knew you did.

If it's not working, then you can just fry them as triangles. Because it certainly can't be because you weren't able to follow my completely clear and understandable instructions.

Make the entire package of wrappers into wontons.

Fry these suckers in hot oil. They fry FAST. Sometimes, so fast, you'll wonder if the beef is cooked. I've never had even a slightly pink meatball, so don't fret how fast they fry. But turn your heat down if they're getting dark too fast. When it's golden on both sides, take it out and drain on a paper towel or wire rack if you're feeling fancy. The oil splatters A LOT so be careful and either wear an apron or an already ruined shirt.

Before you know it, you'll have a mountain of wontons ready to be gobbled up.

Serve with sweet and sour sauce. About a pound of ground beef will make a package of wontons. I think there are 40 wontons per package. Everyone eats a lot of them.
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Happy Everything

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 21:51:00 +0000

Fun cards made at Elizabeth's last night.

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A Stroll on the Beach

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:03:00 +0000

Flat Stanley had such a great time with us. He was so excited to see the grand ocean from our high vista point.

Then when I looked down at the beach from our perch above, I saw this guy walking along the shoreline. Barely looking at him at the time, I snapped a quick photo. But as I looked through the camera lens, I realized the young man forgot to put on his pants. and underwear.
I didn't tell Stanley.
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Don't Mess With Her Easter Eggs

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:27:00 +0000

Hawk at the parentals. Guarding her Precious very carefully.
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Readers please watch and listen

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 08:55:00 +0000

You might be tempted to click close on this one, but give it a go all the way thru. Pretty clever effect and the message is worth a listen.

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Easter Projects

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 00:02:00 +0000

I made a couple of cute little easter projects a few weeks ago with my friend Doris at Elizabeth's Friday night stamp club.I thought this one was super cute and really easy, too. It's just an orange scalloped circle, cut with a die cutter but can easily be hand cut, and 3 green scallop ovals, cut with a hand punch, again you can hand cut if you'd like. Just shape the circle into a cone and glue to hold shape, then glue the 3 ovals on top. Fill with easter grass and add an easter bunny candy inside. You can add the tag as just a little bit of extra embellishment if you'd like.

Elizabeth gave us the template to make this little basket. Basically, it's a square piece of decorative paper folded to make a basket and a die cut floral boarder is used to make the handle. Fill with easter grass and 4 mini hershey candies.

I hope you all have a great Easter weekend, however you celebrate it!
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A Visit from Flat Stanley

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 07:12:00 +0000

Our 7 year old nephew asked us to host a visitor this weekend and we were thrilled to have his company. Flat Stanley, who was flattened by a bulletin board that fell on him, made his way from nephew's home in Southern California to spend some time with us in the Bay Area. We had a lot of fun taking him to San Francisco and showing him the sites.
Flat Stanley loved climbing up this tree to get a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Madeline took Flat Stanley to Fort Point. He got to help load the big cannons with cannon balls.

Fort Point is at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge and one of Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Madeline's favorite spots, so they brought him here to share the beautiful views. What a gorgeous spring day, too!

He really liked the city views from the municipal pier at Aquatic Park.

But when he looked at the prison on Alcatraz, he got a little scared. He had heard that bad guys used to stay there but we told him all the bad guys are gone and it's a fun tourist destination spot now, where people can learn about the history of the prison and Alcatraz Island.

A silly seagull landed on Flat Stanley's head. At least it didn't poop on him.

Sweet! He was so excited to ride on a cable car!

He met a funny pirate at Fisherman's Wharf.

Flat Stanley saw a lot of sail boats in the bay so we showed him where most of them are docked when they're not being used. He also liked the Bay Bridge in the background but admitted the Golden Gate Bridge was cooler.

Being flat certainly has it's advantages. For instance, traveling is a cinch because he can just slip into an envelope and go anywhere. But when the wind kicks up and he's posing for a shot, he can easily blow away. Luckily, Uncle Jimmy was there to save him.

Our nephew loves baseball. So Flat Stanley was super excited to go to the SF Giants Ballpark. Nephew will be a little jealous!

Uncle Jimmy and Flat Stanley watched the Giants play a pre-season game. Go Giants!

We had a lot of fun with Flat Stanley and we'll be sad to see him go.
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Sierra Foothills

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:03:00 +0000

A few photos from our drive through the Sierra Foothills on the way back to the Bay Area from the hideaway. The spring greens and yellows were amazing.

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Trying to break my diet coke addiction

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:09:00 +0000

Via: Online Schools
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Georgia Aquarium

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:01:00 +0000

I'm a bit biased towards the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Afterall, I live just over an hour away from it and think it's phenomenal. So the Georgia Aquarium wasn't on my priority list of things to do in Atlanta. But the Sunday we were there, I had a late start to my day because Jimmy's conference didn't start till 12:30 and it ended earlier than the previous days, so I had about 4 hours to myself for exploring. I had already toured World of Coca-Cola, CNN Center and Olympic Park, so unless I wanted to get on MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority), all that was left to explore within walking distance was the aquarium. It was a great decision because the aquarium far exceeded my Monterey Bay Aquarium biased expectations.

I never woulda guessed it, but the Georgia Aquarium is the world's largest aquarium. According to their website, it "features more animals than any other aquarium in more than eight million gallons of water" and after visiting, I suppose I can believe it. The Monterey Bay Aquarium feels bigger, and perhaps it is by is by square foot, but GA has more gallons and more creatures in perhaps a more compact space, although according to wikipedia, MBA has more species, 600+ to GA's 500ish. No matter what all that means, I really enjoyed my visit to the Georgia Aquarium and saw creatures I haven't seen at the MBA.

Again, instead of featuring my many photos one by one on my blog, I did a video slide show. Experimenting. Not sure if it's something I'll really get into, but it's fun to play.

World of Coca-Cola

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:34:00 +0000

One of my many, MANY vices is drinking a lot of soda. My soda of preference is a diet coke or diet pepsi. And Atlanta is home of Coca-Cola and in 2007 they opened a 60,000 square foot exhibition-attraction of all things Coca-Cola. It was both fantastically and grossly entertaining. Fantastic because the exhibits and movies - a 3D show and a cute animation, were well done, funny, colorful and carefree. But it was slightly gross, too because of how easily we (I) can be drawn to the sugary caffeinated addiction found in a 12oz can or 20oz bottle.

Admittedly, I really enjoyed my tour at the World of Coca-Cola. Not only do I drink Diet Coke, I also love pop culture. Throw in lots of colors and a couple of cute shows and I'll certainly consider it $15 well spent. But I felt guilty, too. Because I believe it's a problem how much we drink processed, sugared, caffeinated drinks. And I am so very much a part of the problem. So I may ask myself, 'what am I doing to address my guilt?' Um. Unfortunately, very little. I drink soda 3-5x a week, almost always over 12oz each time. I've tried only drinking it at home and not ordering it when we go out to eat. I succeeded for about 4 months, but once I fell off the wagon, well. You know that lack of fortitude I've talked about before? Yea, sticktoitiveness is not my strong suit. The only thing I can say I consistently do and have for a couple of years is that I never buy soda in plastic bottles. But that's another issue not to be discussed at this time. :)

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Georgia On My Mind

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 05:13:00 +0000

I've been home for a few days and just now sorting thru the photos I took in Atlanta. As I mentioned in my last post, on my 1st day in a new city, I like to have lunch atop a skyrise hotel.

The Westin is the 5th tallest building in Atlanta at 73 stories high. The restaurant is on the 72nd floor. I got a great birds-eye view of Atlanta up there.

This is the CNN Center, The Georgia Dome and the Omni Hotel. That building is the world headquarters of CNN. Their main newsrooms and studios are located there.

The restaurant rotates in a clockwise direction so the next sight to see was

Centennial Olympic Park, the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics.
The Fountain of Rings is a key feature of the park. The fountain has 251 jets that shoot 12 to 35 feet in the air, and even in mid-50s temperatures, kids were playing in it.

Here's more of a landscape view - the CNN Center, Georgia Dome, Georgia World Congress Center, Olympic Park and flat Georgia lands in the background.

Rotating slightly clockwise and north of the Olympic Park is the Georgia Aquarium in Pemberton Place, along w/ World Of Coca-Cola. I couldn't get a good photo of WOCC from the restaurant though - buildings blocking the view.

(7)Facing north, a major freeway system going to North and Midtown Atlanta.

The Bank of America Plaza building is the tallest in Atlanta and is in Midtown. It's the 8th tallest in the country at 1,023 feet high. In comparison, the hotel I was in was 723 feet high.

The 2nd tallest building in Atlanta is the SunTrust Plaza. Below it, in the foreground is the Hyatt Regency, our hotel and where the conference that Jimmy went to was held. It's funny, because when we're in that hotel, it feels tall because we're on the 17th floor. But compared to the buildings surrounding it, it's puny!

This is the view looking north east. In the far distance I think I make out a mountain range. Appalachians? Ginnie? Anyone? help?

The Marriott Marquis is within the top 20 tallest buildings in Atlanta at 15. At the bottom left of this picture, see the circular building in the shadow of the building next to it? That's the part of the hotel we were in. We were on the 17th floor (out of 22) and looked right into those 3 buildings. Thankfully, neither one of us has claustrophobia issues.

Stone Mountain, east of downtown Atlanta. Maybe next year when we'll have a rental car, we'll check it out.

This is 191 Peachtree Tower. Built in 1990 and at 770 feet high, was taller than the building I was in.

A few "cute" smaller buildings downtown, compared to the skyscrapers, yet still full of personality. south downtown neighborhood of 5 Points.

Georgia State Capitol and Turner Field where the Atlanta Braves play, just south of downtown and 5 Points.

After one full revolution, I was back to CNN Center and Georgia Dome.

I have to admit, I was 'forced' to order dessert, delicious key lime mousse, so I could extend my visit at the restaurant through one complete revolution of the restaurant.That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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Midnight Train to Good Eats!

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:20:00 +0000

I love Atlanta!

I haven't even scratched the surface of this city, in fact, I've only explored part of downtown and took MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) one stop north for dinner...but it's enough for me to know that this is a might fine city. Not just the sights, but also the Good Eats (which...you may know, that Alton Brown is from Atlanta)!

Jimmy's here for a conference and I get to tag along. Lucky lucky me! But what that means is I'm on my own for the day while Jimmy's cooped up in the hotel conference room for 3 days. Thankfully, I get him back for dinner.

I have a little routine whenever I'm out exploring solo in a city I'm not familiar with. On the 1st day, I check to see if any of the sky-rises have a restaurant on their top floor that offer reasonably priced lunches, ie: under $15.

As luck would have it, just 2 blocks down from our hotel, the Westin has a revolving restaurant on the 73rd floor with soups, salads and sandwiches under $15. Whooo hooo!

So while I enjoyed my lunch, I took lots of photos and got a good baring of where everything was.
This is Georgia's Capitol Building. I'll share more photos in another post.

After lunch, I walked to Centennial Olympic Park, site of the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Then I went to the "World Of Coca-Cola". Both worthy of their own posts later.

Jimmy was out till 6:30 and was ravenous when he finally got out. They served bloody steak on top of some mashed potatoes for his lunch. He is not steak eater, especially when it's bloody. And he won't go out of his way to eat mashed potatoes, but will eat it if it's served. So at least he had some of the mashed potatoes that wasn't contaminated by the meat.

My cousin recommended Gladys Knight and Ron Winan's Chicken and Waffles. In most cases, Jimmy and I won't wait more than 15 minutes for a table. We're just impatient like that. But we had a 45 minute wait and it was so worth it.
I had the Chicken and Waffles, which was called "The Midnight Train"
and Jimmy had catfish and grits. We enjoyed it so much, we joked about going back on Sunday night for dinner. Tomorrow night, we might go back to the Westin and enjoy the nighttime views!

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Hints of Spring

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 20:12:00 +0000

I'm enjoying the days of sunshine and blue skies we've had lately. The warmth of the sun is revitalizing.
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Blackout in Chinatown and A Bit of Pukey Cuteness

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:27:00 +0000

Jimmy and I went to San Francisco for Valentine's. It was also the celebration of Chinese New Year.
So we were casually driving down Grant Ave, watching all the people, listening to the firecrackers,
and enjoying the sights and sounds of a busy Chinatown.

We heard sirens coming towards us, and as we approached an intersection, we saw the big fire truck quickly coming down the road so (of course) we waited for it.
It turned onto Grant Ave. right in front of us, barely missing that black car you see on the left.

Then stopped, blocking the road, so we patiently waited till we could move. What else could we do? Then another fire truck came up behind us, blocking us in from both ends. A fireman from the truck in back came to us and told us we had to back out, but right at that moment, the front truck moved forward just enough for us to squeeze by, so the fireman told us to go forward.

After we got past all the fire trucks, I said to Jimmy "Dang, I should have had my video camera out instead!" So even though I thought it was too late, I still took it out and start taking video as we continued down Grant Ave. I liked the sounds of the firecrackers.

So, we're casually driving down Grant Ave. again, enjoying the sites and sounds of the city. Then suddenly...

Blackness!

Well, this time, I got it all on video:

then:

Kinda cool, right?

Afterward, we went to Ghirardelli Square for ice cream, of course. And being Valentine's night, the line was longer than we'd ever seen it, but it moved pretty fast. Every time we get ice cream at Ghirardelli, we get it to go and walk to the cable car turn around on Hyde St and listen to the street performer. Then depending on where we parked, we walk along the waters edge at Aquatic Park. It's really quite romantic at night. Yep, even after 19 years of marriage, we can still find romance.

I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO (Tony Bennett)

The loveliness of Paris
Seems somehow sadly gay
The glory that was Rome
Is of another day
I've been terribly alone
And forgotten in Manhattan
I'm going home to my city by the bay.

I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me.
To be where little cable cars
Climb halfway to the stars!
The morning fog may chill the air
I don't care!
My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco,
Your golden sun will shine for me!
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Chocolately Goodness Birthday Cake

madeline@retzlaff.com (madretz) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:11:00 +0000

Ed and Angie's birthday's are separated by a few days, so when they invited us over Friday night to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, I asked if I could bring a cake to celebrate their special days.
I know I took this photo in a wonky angle, but I wanted to get Prince W watching his mom and dad blow out their candles.

Does that look like a flat cake to you? Well, it's suppose to be flat. Flat like a sheet. It's Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever. I recommend you check out her recipe and all the step-by-step photos on her blog.

It's deliciously rich and the frosting is sinful. I followed her recipe exactly. Since she shows step-by-step photos, it's a really easy cake to make. It was the 1st time I've made it, but certainly won't be the last. In fact, I still have nearly a quart of buttermilk left, so I suspect I'll need to find another reason to make more before it expires.

But sometimes you just don't feel like eating chocolate cake.Sometimes, jello is much, much better than chocolate cake. Especially when it's served with a sweet smile and a twinkle in his eye.
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