newlyweds – East Bay Mama

East Texas Nuptials

^^ Early morning flights = sunrises from window seat!^^ Jumping for Joy we made it to Blum, Texas…

^^Rooftop bars with live music & all these fine friends ❤^^ Weddings with this man will always be my favorite.

^What do you do when you’re locked out of your hotel room at 1am waiting for maintenance to drill the door open? Take random photos in the hallway, duh.

This past weekend we went to a wedding in Blum Texas, which is outside of Cleburne Tx. Never heard of it? Yeah, neither had I! Chris is from Austin originally & so over the past four years we traveled quite a bit to Texas, visiting family & friends. I’ve also spent small amounts of time in both Houston & Dallas. But this was my first time really going deep into Texas. Albeit a stark comparison to our day to day life in San Francisco, there’s something so nice about being out on country roads, windows down, country music playing. I grew up in a small town in northern California so I can appreciate large parcels of land in towns that maybe have one stop light. And I can certainly appreciate big sky country, especially for the beautiful photos it helps produce. Chris has a large group of friends from college & it was so nice to see everyone all in one place again & just spend the weekend together! Not to mention that going to weddings now having already been married for over a year makes us nostalgic about our day. Weddings are just the best & this one was no exception! The first night there we went to the beautiful rehearsal dinner held at Lost Oak Winery. After the rehearsal we headed to downtown Burleson to continue the night & meet up with all our friends. We went Old Texas Brewing Co which had an awesome rooftop bar with live music. The next morning I was lucky enough to randomly wake up around 7am & catch this absolutely breathtaking sunrise from our hotel room. None of the sunrise photos have been edited whatsoever. It was so beautiful!! The wedding itself took place on this gorgeous estate surrounded with trees. Chris always talks about how special Texas is & how there’s no where quite like it. I don’t know if this born & raised Cali girl will ever truly understand what he means but I can attest that there’s definitely something spectacular about it & it’s home to some of the best people we know & miss! We got back late Sunday night & woke up to San Francisco rain, so I guess it’s time to wash the jean shorts, pull out the rainboots & get ready for fall in the Bay Area!

PS. One of the best perks of having a husband is convincing him to take cheesy jump on the bed photos so we can test out the new remote for the camera! yay!

Living for the weekend.

This past weekend my best friend was in town, which means only good things will follow! Saturday Chris competed in a Jui Jitsu tournament & got second place! So I spent Saturday afternoon cheering him on & then Sunday we ventured out to the East Bay for some much needed R&R. We lounged by the pool & enjoyed a wonderful Sunday Dinner with my besties family. Throughout college I spent some many evening dining with my second family & it’s so nice whenever we’re able to go back. Plus we always bring Juno & she seriously LOVES suburbia! After a full day of running and swimming I’m amazed she had enough energy to take on Hog Island Oysters the very next day! Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Swim Suit | Target | Here

A weekend to remember

There are just some weekends you never want to end, and this past weekend was one of them. San Francisco is finally welcoming the start of our Indian summer, it has been such a lonnnnnng Fogust, everyone’s dying for some sunshine. This was the first weekend in a long while that Chris & I weren’t travelling / working or just having a jam packed weekend. It was so nice to just be in the city & enjoy SF. We spent Saturday in Golden Gate Park walking around with Juno, enjoying the sunshine. Sunday morning I took Juno to the Farmer’s Market a few blocks from our apartment, while Chris finished up some work at home. As soon as I saw the flower stand had made to order bouquets of dahlias I couldn’t help myself, especially after last weekend at the Dahlia Dells!! Then we headed over to the ball park to watch the Giants play the Braves! It was such a good game, the giants scored 13 runs!! We rounded out the afternoon by enjoying some cocktails & appetizers at one of my favorite spots in SF. In the words of Walt Whitman – “we were together, I forget the rest” this weekend was just a perfect weekend enjoying one another’s company and all our beautiful city has to offer. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

xoxo Natasha

Dahlia Dells

Golden Gate Park is amazing, I know I’ve talked about it before, but sometimes I seriously can’t get over it. Juno & I walk through the park almost every single day we’re home, and I swear each week I discover some new area of perfection. Last week’s new found obsession – this Dahlia Dell. Mid-week Juno & I discovered the dahlias & we had to take Chris there over the weekend. Usually on the weekends we take the pup out for a walk / game of fetch in the park & I love showing Chris the new places we’ve discovered over the week. These dahlia were too pretty not to share!

Tuesday Thai

Curry is a meal that can seem daunting to make, but I assure you it’s actually much easier than you think! I started cooking curry about 5 years ago, my best friend & I were poor college kids & couldn’t afford to order in delicious Thai as much as we’d like, so we decided to combine our culinary skills & make our own curry. Since then, curry has become a staple meal in our house. I love making curry because there can be a ton of variations, you can change up the protein or veggies for a different taste. In the autumn & winter months I love making curry with pumpkin or squash.

One of the reasons curry makes it on our menu so frequently is beacuse it’s a relatively quick meal that usually is filled with veggies & protein & typically renders lots of leftovers! So this is often one of the “big batches” I make early in the week.

The first step is to cut the protein into small bite size pieces & season with: salt, pepper, garlic powder, curry powder & turmeric. Once seasoned I place in the fridge while the rest of the prep work is done.The next step is to prep all the vegetables. I usually use mushrooms, sweet potatoes, bok-choy, bell peppers. I typically just use whatever’s in the veggie drawer. I truly believe that eating healthy involves eating colorfully so I’m all for any meal that incorporates a ton of veggies.Once all the veggies have been prepped, heat 2 tsp of olive oil in large saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Add in onions, garlic & seasoned meat. You want to saute the meat until it starts to brown, (timing will vary depending on protein type).Next, add in the chopped sweet potatoes and allow to cook for 3-5 minutes, covered. The sweet potatoes & rest of the veggies will continue to cook once the coconut milk is added so don’t worry if you think the veggies are too underdone.Uncover the meat & potatoes, add bell pepper & allow to saute uncovered for 3-5 minutes.Next add in the more delicate vegetables, like mushrooms and bok choy. Put curry paste & additional curry powder to taste. I usually add 2-3 tbsp of paste & an additional 1 tspb of curry powder. Allow the vegetables & seasonings to cook uncovered for approx 4 minutes.
Finally, add in two cans of coconut milk and bring to low boil. Making sure all the curry paste has dissolved. Adjust for taste, adding more paste or powder as needed. Allow to cook at a low simmer for approx 10 minutes. Serve hot over rice.

If you try to recreate this recipe I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

Thai Red Curry

Servings: 4-6
Time: 45 min
Print

Ingredients

1 Sweet potato
1 package of stew meat or protein of choice.
2 cups of sliced mushrooms
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large baby bok choy, chopped
½ yellow onion, chopped.
1 tbsp curry powder
2 cloves garlic, minced.
2 tsp of turmeric
2-3 tbsp of Thai Curry Paste
2 cans of coconut milk

Directions

Sliced protein to desired bite size pieces, I find the stew meat often needs to be cut into smaller pieces & usually trimmed of some fat. Season meat with: salt, pepper, curry powder (2 tsp), garlic powder & a few dashes of turmeric. Place meat in fridge to marinate.

While the meat marinates, chop all the veggies & set aside.

In a large skillet or large pan, over medium high heat begin sauteing onions, garlic and meat. Once meat begins to brown add in sweet potato. I try to add the vegetables in order of which takes the longest to cook. Once the sweet potatoes have been sauteing for 3-4 minutes along with the meat, add in bell peppers and allow to cook for additional 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once the vegetables have started to cook, add in the curry paste, curry powder & turmeric, as well as the remaining mushrooms & bok choy. Let this cook for approx 3 minutes, stirring in seasoning and curry paste.

Add in coconut milk, bring to light boil & then decrease heat and cover for 15 minutes. Taste for flavor & adjust if more curry powder or paste are needed.

Serve hot over rice.

ER Nurses Take Tahoe

A few weeks ago my coworkers & I went on our annual trip to Lake Tahoe, it was such a fun getaway. I love everyone I work with & it’s so special when we’re all able to be in the same place at once, not working!! We stayed right near Fallen Leaf Lake & were about a 10 minute drive from Kiva Beach on Lake Tahoe. Kiva beach, is a fairly large, dog friendly beach. At the beach you have gorgeous panoramic views of the whole lake & behind the beach is a beautiful meadow with the sierra’s lining the background. It was mid July & the mountains still had snow caps on them!

Like I mentioned before, it’s so special when we can actually coordinate all of our busy schedules & find a time when we can all be together. Many of us work more than one job, so finding a 4 day stretch where we can be together is a miracle! My nursing family is amazing, I’ve learned so much from each one of them & am constantly inspired. It’s so rare to find such an amazing group of people you work with. Granted, many have moved on to other jobs but we’ve all remained close. Nursing is a tremendously hard job & if you can’t find balance in your life then you’re going to have a hard time coping. Weekend getaways like this one remind me what incredibly compassionate, generous, hilarious women I’m surrounded by, & push me to expect more of myself. I just had my 4 year anniversary as a nurse & a lot of the girls in these photos were there from the very beginning. We encouraged each other & helped one another become the amazing nurses we are today. One of my favorite quotes that embodies nursing is this: “The best way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others”. As true as this is, I think I’ve also found myself working side by side with these gals. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of others I work side by side with that I consider to be my Nurse role models / mentors, but these girls are gold.

Stay tuned for more photos with them because this weekend we’re headed to our first ever black tie event together… just keep in mind these are girls who wear glorified pajamas to work each day (scrubs).

Valentine’s Getaway – Tahoe City

^^^This sunrise woke me up – talk about forgetting you went to bed at 3am!

^^This photo reminds me so much of a Bob Ross Landscape…

I swear this dog and look so majestic one minute ^ and then so goofy then next …

^^My two Valentine’s this year – I’m one lucky girl.

^^Juno actually does really well on car rides – she usually just snoozes the whole way, like below…

^^True Life: Being a Puppy Mom is Exhausting.

When it comes to Valentine’s Day low-key has always been Chris & my take on the holiday; especially since my birthday falls two weeks afterward! Usually a nice dinner out is the extent of our Valentine’s Day plans. This year however we had no plans up until the last minute when we decided to drive up to Tahoe once Chris got off work on Friday. We ended up leaving SF at 9pm which made for a lonnnng & sleepy car ride but thankfully we made it & woke up to the most beautiful sunrise over Lake Tahoe! I can’t remember the last impulsive decision we made that turned out this good, except maybe adopting Juno on Black Friday 😉 Tahoe was the perfect escape – we took Juno down to the lake for a few hours on Saturday & let her play in the snow & she even decided she wanted to go into the frigid lake – she would have kept fetching indefinitely – so we finally had to end the game. The rest of the weekend was spent with good food, great wine & bouncing between soaking in the hot tub & tiring the puppy out. All in all it was a Valentine’s to remember. Hope everyone had a great day celebrating love in all it’s forms, I was thankful to be with my little family in such a beautiful location.

Baker Beach Day

^^^ Happiness is a sandy snout – Juno spent a good portion of her time yesterday trying to dig gigantic holes in the sand! It feels like a lifetime but we’ve only had Juno, our black lab, for 2 months. It’s been so fun getting to explore San Francisco with our newest fur-baby. Yesterday we ventured out to Baker Beach. The weather was so strange but when we got to the beach the sun was actually out. The cloudcover made for some pretty amazing photos, especially with that little bridge in the back drop. Baker Beach is an awesome mile long beach tucked beneath the Presidio Cliffs with phenomenal views of the Golden Gate Bridge & Marin Headlands. It’s hard to believe that a beach this beautiful can be empty enough to let my puppy run around! Yesterdays beach trip was the perfect start to the weekend! We’re off to the foot hills this weekend to let Juno explore the 4 acres my parents live on. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend!

Wintery Weekends

Chorizo & Potato Hash with sauteed mushrooms, topped with micro greens, cherry tomatoes & an over easy egg! So.Nomz.

Our Cheat Day Cheese Board

Slate Board & Cheese Knives : Williams Sonoma Here & Here

The first two weekends of 2016 have been pretty low key I’ve had to work all or part of the weekends so we’ve been just enjoying San Francisco Winter! Juno has been enjoying kissing / biting all the Christmas Trees good bye around our neighborhood, it’s kind of hilarious.

In terms of New Year resolutions? I’m sure ours are a lot like some of yours. I have a few for 2016 that I listed below. The last two years I’ve tried to step up my reading game. I fell short of my resolution last year to read 15 books, I managed to read 13 so I’m still counting that as a victory! My reading resolution makes the list again this year.

2016 Resolutions

Read – I dropped my goal back down to 10 books for the year. Stay tuned for some of my favorites & what books that will be making this years reading list! [pro tip: if you want to try this I highly recommend choosing lighter reads toward the end, I was trying to finish a pretty dense & lonnnng book & ended up struggling the last two months.]

Consciousness Eating – This year I’m going to try to stick to allowing myself one cheat day per week as well as minimizing my snacking at work. The nursing station is littered with temptations: chips, donuts, candy, you name it, it’s there.

10k Steps – I started the new year with a new Fitbit & I couldn’t be more excited for this resolution. When I graduated college I had one of the original Fitbits & I was really into all the tracking. Over time & two trips in the washer (oops!), it eventually died. I’ve been talking about replacing it for ages & courtesy of my husband I’m back tracking steps, flights, mileage & I love it.

52 Week Money Saving Challenge – this is part resolution part challenge. If I just resolved to “save money” I’ll fail. I need specific, goal directed, assessable, realistic goals / resolutions. So using a simple week by week saving chart keeps me on track & motivated; The same way my Fitbit keeps me motivated to get active. Here’s the challenge I’m doing, thanks to the Stingy Saver!

This past Sunday was my cheat day & earlier in the week I had decided I was going to try and make a Chorizo Hash for breakfast! Well it turned out even better than expected, it was so good I forgot to put cheese on it… that never happens! But don’t worry cheese came later in the day when Chris & I broke out our fancy Cheese / Charcuterie set & enjoyed pre – dinner appetizers & cocktails & started Making a Murderer (so good!).

Hope everyone is having an amazing start to the year! Do you have any awesomely attainable New Years Resolutions? If so I’d love to read about them in the comments section below!

What A Year.

When I scroll through 2015’s photos it’s hard to believe so much has happened in just one year! Here’s to all that 2016 will bring! Cheers!

I can’t believe 2015 has already come & gone. It was quite the year, when I think about everywhere we traveled & all the milestones that have blessed us this year it’s hard to believe it all happened in the same year! 2015 marked the year Chris and I got married; I celebrated 25 in Kauai with my bestfriend; we watched many other friends say “I do”; I opened, sold & profited on my etsy shop, tried out this bloggin thing, and we rounded out the year with the addition of our black lab puppy Juno. We spent Christmas in Texas, if you get the chance to spend Christmas with a puppy, do it! It’s bliss. We are beyond excited for the start of 2016 & can’t wait to keep blogging it all! Wishing everyone a happy, healthy & safe new year! I’ll be spending NYE working in the ER so I’ll be ringing in 2016 with my work family but please stay safe & stay out of ERs!

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