Hot August Nights

Back in August I took a solo trip to visit the fam on Ryan's turf in Reno. I haven't been to Reno in ages and it was nice to finally see Ryan in his world. The weekend was a blast. We were there during Hot August Nights, Reno's huge annual classic car show which is always a hit. Ryan took us to a local pizza joint, showed us his house and we met his puppy love, Ella. And you can't go to the desert in the summer without lounging poolside, so that's what we did, complete with Strawberitas! My dad taught me how to play Pai Gow poker (so cool that the dealer can help you and you get paid when another player wins!!), we filled up on a traditional casino buffet, and we were wowed by the $1 beers!! Sunday we went to a Reno Aces baseball game where we hooted and hollered and stuffed our faces with hot dogs and popcorn. It was a whirlwind weekend full of love, laughs, family, and awesome cars and I was so happy I was able to spend some quality time with my sister Cassie's lovely little family, brother Ryan, and Dad and Leslie! 

Washingtonia Robusta growth rate

We planted our first palm trees in 2009 right after we moved in. This is a video showing the growth rate for two of our Washingtonia Robusta palm trees. We took photos every year in August... and look at 'em grow!


Palmy from Jaime Dwight on Vimeo.

Central Coast Celebration

A long overdue thanks to my sweet family for traveling so far to hang out with us at our home and join my mom and I at our third John Mayer concert! It was one of the most memorable weekends of summer and I miss being with you.

Tiny baby lizzy!

P.S. if you haven't checked out John Mayer's new album, it's lovely! I even like the twang...guess I'm getting old. ;)

xo!

Reflecting on a friendship

After two years, my best friend (my soul) and I finally reunited. Her face, as she walked towards me, appeared like a bright light, a spark of yesterday. Her hug, a squeeze of home. Just to be near her and her little family for five minutes was all I could ask for. Of course, more time is ideal, but isn't that true of every good thing in life? More time with that person, with those people, at that place, more time to just be together. Just to sit and talk, or not talk. Like that saying, "too much of a good thing can be wonderful."

Time together is precious and fleeting. It's normal and lovely and comfortable and awkward and brief. It is filled with apologies and don't worries. It is filled with smiles and laughs. Of learning the new and catching glimpses of the old. But more than anything, time with my friend is full of love. In her sweet voice you hear care, you hear worry, uncertainty, but always love.  Her time is filled with more than just friends, staying up late, playing drinking games, dancing, music, and acting silly, like way back when. Now, her time is filled with life. Soft, squeaky life. 

Heather, thank you for giving me time to spend with you. To just sit with you and love on your Hanalei. Thank you for including me in your plans and don't think for one moment that I didn't understand or appreciate you when you had to be a mom first. I loved seeing you that way, and I look up to you more than ever. (And I say ever, because I have always looked up to you, my strong friend).

Until next time when I am lucky enough to hear your voice tell people that I am your friend, to twist our arms together as we walk along, and to sit and watch you be you - the person you were destined to be!

I love you, Bug!

Be in my heart

Six years ago, Steve and I fell in love in Chicago. On somewhat of a whim, we decided take our vacation to the Windy City because for the past 6 years it has been tugging on our hearts. And while searching for our favorite memories, we made new ones along the way.

We spent most of our time reveling in Chicago's warmth! The warm air embraced our skin and cuddled us up. Hey, cool - it's raining and STILL warm! It's past 5pm and it's STILL warm!? Wow! I just woke up and I am already WAAAARM! Hi Shorts, nice to see you, it's been a few years since I've felt so WARM! Let's hunt down every quaint patio in Chicago so we can stay outside in this warmth! We devoured every warm drop.

The only touristy thing we did was visit the bean!!

Can you see us?

We ate pizza every day! We didn't get to town until about 10pm Monday night and walked straight to Pizza Uno where we waited at least 90 minutes for a seat and pizza. It was soo worth it! There's nothing better than deep dish Chicago-style pizza, sangria, and your true love to share it with.

Another night we met up with Steve's cousin, Paul who took us to Gino's East for pizza. Here, we learned that there are many restaurants in Chicago where you can BYOB!!! Yes, BEER! We couldn't believe it that we were allowed to stroll into a neighboring bar to order a 6-pack of beer TO GO and drink it on the patio of the pizza place! Gino's even put our beer in their fridge to keep it cold for us! 

Our favorite pizza spot during our 2007 trip was Eduardos - the place I order pizza from for special occasions and they ship it frozen from Chicago. Well, we were finally back to get it fresh and we could barely find the spot! Well, it has since turned into an Eduardo's wine bar, where they stopped serving deep dish pizza and now serve artisan flat pizza! BOO!! So we had one tiny appetizer and a drink (on the patio!) and sulked out of there.

And finally, on the last night, we were wiped out from a day of sailing on Lake Michigan and ordered pizza take-out from Pizza Due - our second favorite spot.

Here is the famous Chicago water tower. This was one of the only buildings to survive in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It stood as our landmark for getting around the downtown area because our hotel was just around the corner. 

Steve's cousin took us sailing on Lake Michigan. We'd never get another opportunity like this to see Chicago from such a neat perspective! Thank you so much Paul for taking us out and showing us just how cool Chicago really is! Besides the seasickness, we had a blast!!! It was so nice meeting Paul and getting the behind-the-scenes tour of his awesome t-shirt company, Ript Apparel. 

My cousin Zac and his wife Kate also live in Chicago and it was such a treat to visit with them while we were there. Zac is a chef at the Four Seasons and he gave us a grand tour of the kitchens. It was absolutely amazing and impressive how many kitchens and staff there are! We also met up with them in their cute tree-lined neighborhood where we took a nice walk to Wicker Park and tried bone marrow for the first time ever! It was...delicious!

Bathroom Renovation FINALE!!!!!!!!

Project Timeline: 1 year, 7 months - January 2012 - July 2013

Project Cost: 1/3 of the cost of hiring a professional to do a complete bathroom reno.

Lesson Learned: The key to success is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.



Bathroom Renovation from Jaime Dwight on Vimeo.

Soundtrack: "Deconstruction" by Fanfarlo

Long Lost Bees

A couple of months ago our bees left the hive in search of another home. Experts say that there are multiple reasons bees swarm, including overpopulation, which is what we think happened to us. At some point when there are too many bees in one hive, you are supposed to split your hive to make more room for the colony to grow and flourish. Well, we never split our hive so one day they just vanished! 

Steve heard that sometimes a new colony of bees can move in if their scouts find the hive, but most likely we would have to replenish the hive with a new set of bees next spring. In the meantime all of that delectable honey would serve as a food source for other roaming bees and probably ants. ;( 

But that all changed last Thursday! Steve arrived home from work with a wonderful surprise! NEW BEES! And these are not just any bees, they are eager bees! Check out his footage and cross your fingers that this batch of bees sticks around!

Bees Are Back! from Jaime Dwight on Vimeo.