Amanda & Bentley's Wedding

It has been a long time since I have posted on our blog, but I am going to try to catch up...

In May, I flew to Memphis for Amanda's bachelorette party. I was excited to go since I didn't get to attend any of her other showers. That is just one of the sacrifices of living so far from home. It was a great weekend in Memphis. As soon as I arrived, I could feel the HUMIDITY, and I was craving some Southern cooking (basically, anything fried). To recount what I had to eat that weekend actually makes me hungry- BBQ, fried pickles, and fried okra.

In June, Amanda & Bentley (finally) got married! It was a wonderful wedding! She was a beautiful bride! Anna was in the USA, and Elvis was back from the dead. It was a great time with friends and family. Congrats to Amanda & Bentley!

Eating on Beale Street as soon as I landed

Pool Party!

Bachelorette Party at Mollie Fontaine's in Memphis

Amanda at Silky's on Beale Street

At the Bridal Luncheon

At the Rehearsal Dinner

Anna and I with the beautiful bride

Annie, Anna and me at the reception

Amanda and Elvis (the other man in her life) ;)

Our First Anniversary

It is hard to believe that Eric and I have been married for 1 year now! We have had a whirlwind of excitement in the first year since moving to California and starting married life. The first year of marriage went by so fast, but we enjoyed all of the new experiences together. There will be many more years of happiness together.

To celebrate our anniversary, Eric surprised me with a trip to Farallon, a nice restaurant in San Francisco near Union Square. We enjoyed a three-course meal and champagne. It was a wonderful dining experience. On Sunday, I surprised Eric with tickets to a San Francisco Giants game. It was a great day for baseball in the Bay! The weather was great, and we enjoyed watching the Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks. We had a wonderful weekend of marriage celebration. We are truly blessed!

Go Giants!

We are wearing our orange and black.

AT&T Park with a great view of the Bay

Enjoying the ballpark food

Eric is really into the game.

Eric & Mandy Wright

Walnofers Come to Visit

I'm quite behind on my posts, but I am trying to catch up before we leave for China...

At the end of April, Scott & Kristen Walnofer came to visit us in Palo Alto before they moved back to Arkansas in May. We had a great time showing them around Palo Alto and Stanford University. We ate at many different restaurants including a Mongolian hot pot and Japanese dessert restaurant in San Mateo and Calafia, which is the former Google chef's restaurant, in Palo Alto. All of the culinary experiences can be found on Scott's wonderful blog. The recent culinary school grad describes the dining experiences very well. We also went to Half Moon Bay to enjoy a day at the beach. It was such a beautiful day there. Overall, it was a great time with friends. Eric and I are sad that they left California, but we wish them the best back home in Arkansas!

Scott & Kristen enjoying hot pot

Scott & Kristen at Half Moon Bay

Scott & Eric playing football on the beach

Kristen & me enjoying the beach

Eric enjoyed playing in the sand

Lunch at Half Moon Bay

The lobster roll was delicious!

The boys enjoying the drive up Hwy 1 and the scenic views

Camping in California

One of my co-workers, Courtney, and his wife, Ariane, have a cabin in Oroville, CA. They invited some co-workers to their cabin one weekend in April. Eric and I made the 3-hour trip to Oroville together. We were excited about venturing out into the "country-side" of California. Oroville is north of Sacramento, and I would have to say it is pretty close to the country. This is the least populated area I have been to in California. Immediately, Eric was excited to be in the country. We went on a hike, and Eric was looking at deer tracks, birds, and trees. He was happy to be in his element. Courtney and Ariane were the best hosts. We grilled out with deer burgers, chicken, kabobs, salad, and all of the fixins'. We ate around the bonfire that Courtney built; however, Eric felt the need to continually add more wood to the bonfire- it must be a guy thing. For dessert, I brought smores to cook. It was fun, but hot, cooking them by the bonfire. We stayed up late talking and enjoying the night. We even listened to country music from Courtney's truck (he is originally from Georgia). None of the other guests knew any country music- not even Garth Brooks! We couldn't believe it. It is so funny how we all grew up in America, but they have had no exposure to country music. The next morning we had a great breakfast and then headed back to the Peninsula. Eric and I stopped in Vacaville for a short outlet mall experience for me (I will have to go back later to do the serious shopping). Courtney even invited Eric to deer hunt on his property this fall. Eric will have to apply for a hunting license now. We had a great time camping in CA with my co-workers.

My boss, Kyong, with the bonfire

Eric helping Courtney grill out

Eric and the campfire- He probably added more wood to the fire. :)

Cheers!- Suzy, Kyong, and me

Enjoying the food and the outdoors

Suzy trying to roast marshmallows next to the hot fire

The bonfire kept getting larger. It was still burning the next morning.

Kyong and Courtney- too funny

Dad & Mom Visit

My parents had some time off around the Easter holiday, and they flew to California to see Eric and me. I was so excited to have them visit!!! My Mom and sister drove out here in June with me. However, both of my parents had not seen our apartment all 'fixed' up (using my Southern vocabulary). My parents arrived on Thursday evening, and I was so happy to see them in CA.

On Friday, I gave my parents the Palo Alto tour. We went to Stanford and downtown Palo Alto. I was sure to make stops at all of the Stanford sports facilities to keep my Dad interested. He really liked the Stanford golf course. It is a beautiful course. We stopped at the Apple store downtown the day before the iPad was revealed and Google. For lunch we had In-N-Out Burger. Yum! Later in the day, we went to Happy Feet, a Chinese reflexology spa, to get massages. The massages are very interesting. They are done fully clothed in a large recliner in a room with other customers using reflexology. However, for $25 per hour, it was a fun, relaxing, and new experience for me and my parents. After our massages, Dad found a Chinese restaurant next door where we had appetizers before dinner. We had the BEST wonton soup ever! We loved it. We met up with Eric for dinner at a Thai restaurant in downtown Palo Alto. This was the first time for my parents to have Thai food, and they liked it.

Saturday was a big trip for us. We headed to Monterey Bay, Pebble Beach, and Carmel for the day. Eric and I went to this area when I visited in November 2008 when he was rotating at Stanford as medical student. My parents are golf enthusiasts and loved Pebble Beach and the 17-Mile Drive. The golf courses and views are amazing. My Dad got a few pebbles from the beach for paper weights. We had lunch at the club house where we saw pictures of famous golfers. My Dad brought his putter and practiced on the putting green. He putted well. Now, we are looking forward to watching the US Open in June this year to see Pebble Beach again but on TV. We went to Carmel to visit Clint Eastwood's area. We browsed in the shops and had dessert at a famous candy store. We headed back to Palo Alto, watched the NCAA basketball semi-finals on TV, and ordered pizza.

My Dad left Sunday morning for Atlanta to see the Masters. So Mom and I went to the local farmer's market and then to San Jose for shopping at Santana Row. Mom left for home that afternoon. It was a great to spend time with my parents! I can't wait for them to come back to visit us again.

Mom & Dad at IKEA

Dad riding my bike

Dad being silly at dinner

Dad & Mom at Stanford

Mom imitating the Rodin sculptures

Family at Pebble Beach

Mom & Dad with the Lone Cypress, the symbol of Pebble Beach's logo

Along the 17-Mile Drive

Dad & Eric watching others play on the 18th hole

Dad practicing his swing at Pebble Beach

Dad enjoying Pebble Beach

Eric trying to use my Dad's left-handed putter.

He made this one.

Eric and the candy cottage

Dad and Clint Eastwood

Video of Dad's putting at Pebble Beach

A "Wicked" Good Birthday

For my 28th birthday, Eric and I went to see Wicked in San Francisco. Ever since we moved here, I have been wanting to go see the musical. I love musicals and plays, and I was very excited to see Wicked because I've heard so many good reviews of the show. The reviews were correct. I loved every minute of the play! Eric even liked it. We had orchestra seats so I was able to see everything in the play. As we were leaving, I bought a poster with signatures from the cast- it didn't hurt that it was tax deductible. I couldn't get the songs from the show out of my head- "Popular! I know about popular!" and "I'm defying gravity." Also, here is a little known San Francisco fact- Wicked started out in San Francisco before moving to Broadway in 2003. Eric took me to dinner near Union Square at First Crush. We had a delicious meal and talked about the play. My 28th birthday turned out to be a "wickedly" good one.

San Francisco Civic Center- near our parking spot

WICKED!

Outside the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco with Elphaba & Glinda

Me & the witches

My handsome husband patiently waiting for dinner after the play

Rancho San Antonio

The weather has been great here in California, and on Sunday, it was really great. So we went hiking in Palo Alto with some of our friends and Eric's co-residents. The views from Rancho San Antonio were amazing. You can see Palo Alto and a lot of the Bay area. It was a great hike and good times with new friends.

View of Palo Alto

Eric & me with a beautiful background

Eric & me with another view of the city

We could also see San Francisco from this view.

Ariel, Achal, Do, & Eric enjoying the hike

By the way, there were a lot of people hiking that day, and we couldn't find parking. So we parked in a neighborhood near the park and stopped in for an open house at a home for sale. It was too funny that we were crashing the open house just for parking because we certainly cannot afford a $2 million dollar house. :)