This past weekend, Tim and I headed down to San Jose to celebrate both Robin's Birthday as well as mine. It was fantastic! Angela and Frankie came from Sacramento so there was a nice group of us together ready for a fun weekend.
Saturday afternoon we all just hung out, prepped for dinner and laughed a lot.
Tim and Kenny taught Frankie how to play the wii, which was pretty hilarious to watch - they were swinging virtual swords at each other. Boys are silly.
Robin's Mom and Dad came over for dinner along with her sister Stephanie, husband John and their kids Isabella and Rachel. We had a great dinner of ribs, chicken, mac and cheese, cole slaw, garlic bread and ice cold beer. I love my extended Urban Family, they are incredible people and I am so lucky to have all of them in my life.
After dinner we all enjoyed cake and ice cream followed by dancing wii games in the family room.
Later in the evening, after the locals went home, Kenny lit a fire in their fire pit and Angela, Tim, Robin and I sat out in the back yard talking until the wee hours of the morning. After not much sleep, we woke up and Angela baked a french toast casserole that we made together the night prior and then ate breakfast outside in the backyard. It was delicious. It was a beautiful day so we decided to walk to the park. Frankie got to play and run around, we all played frisbee, catch with the football and just laid in the grass before heading back to the house. After a quick dip in the pool for Tim and Frankie, we had a nice lunch of leftovers and green salad. Angela and Frankie packed up and left to go and visit her cousin in San Jose before heading back to Sacramento and the rest of us watched a comedy show on TV and took naps. We headed home around 6:15, by the time we got home we were super tired but ended up staying up, checking email, watching tv, etc. When it was time to go to bed, I walked into the bedroom and on my bedside table there was a little light blue bag with a white ribbon on it and it ends up Tim got me a new wedding band from Tiffany's! It is super simple, and so perfect for me, I slept with it on and love it so much. Tim did real good this year to say the least.
Thanks Robin and Kenny for having us for the weekend it was super nice, I miss the sun already. Thanks Angela for coming all the way from Sacto, I hope we can do this more often.
Hope you all had a great weekend!
I had to throw away my favorite shirt on Friday. 
It is so nice to have a friend that has a birthday so close to your own, that way not only can you celebrate together, you can take turns making the cake each year. Last year Robin made a wonderfully delicious Hummingbird Cake, this year I decided to take a stab at this Blueberry Lemon Cake. I baked the cake and made the frosting at home and assembled it at Robin and Kenny's house with the help of Robin's niece Isabella (8) who asked so sweetly if she could help, so I let her decorate the entire thing and it was beautiful. She did an excellent job!
Lara Stone and Alexander Skarskgard by Peter Lindbergh for Vogue US July 2011
I got a bright and early start this morning and went to the Alameda Point Antiques Faire with Amy. We were super lucky to have met up there at 8:00 am because it was blistering hot even that early and when we left at 10:00 am there was a HUGE line of at least 1000 people waiting in line to get tickets to get in past the gates. No line for the early birds and we saw about 2/3 of the entire faire; if you have not been before it is massive and takes place on the old airstrip so it is full sun when it is sunny and no shade at all. Pure heat bouncing off concrete. After two hours and an ice cold Jamba Juice (thank God they have a stand there) we were ready to get out of there and get brunch somewhere.
We ate at Chop Bar in Oakland, which was very good. I would love to go back and see what their dinner menu is like plus they have a great cocktail menu (there was no way I could have had one, I would have passed out). I think we each had three different drinks; water, agua fresca (grapefruit ginger) and sparkling water; it was hard to get rehydrated after our morning in the sun. Great morning indeed, was home by 12:30; time to take a two hour rest with a book, bed, fan and a little nap before my next adventure.
After sleeping in until about 10 AM (luxurious), I got bit by the baking bug and decided to use the beautiful zucchini I got this week in some zucchini bread. I found a great recipe on smitten kitchen that called for olive or vegetable oil so I decided to try it with the olive. I was a bit apprehensive as the last time I baked a sweet bread with olive oil it was terrible, but Angela makes a cake with it, so I thought I would give it a try since my last attempt was years ago. The bread turned out amazing, I added cranberries and left the nuts out. The mister has already had a half a loaf (good thing I made two). I had plans to make a crisp out of my white nectarines, but after eating one just the way nature intended, there was no way I could adulterate them. They are incredible just the way they are; just as sweet as the sunny spot that glides across my kitchen floor each afternoon.
