We're Back!

Finally, after our hiatus at home in Dallas for a few months we are back on the road. We headed west again, but this time we are little farther south in Santa Barbara, CA.  It is incredibly beautiful here, mountains in one direction and the ocean in the other direction.  Although it is totally different than the Bay Area, we are really enjoying the laid back feel of Southern California.

 

Santa Barbara is right off HWY 101 which means no matter which direction you go it is absolutely beautiful. We have yet to venture south, but we have gone north a couple of times and the views are incredible. 

We didn't have a lot of time to prep for our adventure here in SB because we found out on Monday that Jon would start the following Monday.  We decided to just fly out and see what happens. We spent our first week in a hotel looking for an apartment. Luckily, we found a great place through Craig's List and are very happy with our little place.  The car situation was a little more complicated since we did not have time to drive our own car out here. We knew we either needed to go back and get our car or find another mode of transportation. After our sweet friend Emily jokingly suggested we should get Vespas we decided that scooters were a great idea. So we purchased the 2 scooters pictured below. The red one is Jon's ride to work and the white one is what I use regularly and what we use when we go somewhere together. I know all of you would love to see a picture of what it looks like when we both are on the white scooter, but we don't have a picture of that for obvious reasons. I guess someone will just have to come visit us so we can get a picture of that :) 

**don't worry, we always wear helmets**

Just posing for a picture 

Wedding Crashers

Who says that crashing weddings can't create lasting friendships? Not us because that's exactly how our friendship with Brad and Marybeth began.  They were invited to help with our flowers and set up by my dear friend Emily, whose mom was our florist.  They cam, they helped, and they decided to stay for the party.  Our favorite memory of this story is when Jon and I looked at wedding pictures and realized that Brad and MB brought clothes knowing they were going to help and then crash our wedding.  Since our wedding we have had many fun nights with the Wilkersons including a trip to Destin, FL, a night in NOLA and many other great evenings at their home.

The Wilkersons joined us in San Francisco for 3 nights.  We weren't able to see them over the Holidays while we were home so it was much needed catchup time and they let us crash in their hotel room in the city too.

We spent our first day shopping around Union Square and then met Jon for dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant, R&G Lounge.  We pretty much took all of our guests here because we love the food so much.

Our second day consisted of more shopping, mani and pedis, and lunch at Yank Sing which is known for their dim sum.  It is by far the best in the city, but you do have to be ready when they come around trying to sell you a small piece of sea bass for $20 or their signature dumplings at $12 a pop. Our favorites there are the pot stickers, chicken and mushroom dumplings, and the shrimp and chives dumplings.  Jon and I will always crave Yank Sing!  

Unfortunately, Jon had to work the first 2 days Brad and Marybeth were in town so that night, after Jon was off work, we went out to celebrate. We started our evening at the Tonga Room located inside the Fairmont. It's a kitschy, little Hawaiian themed restaurant and bar with drinks and food to match the theme. There is even a small lightening and rain storm that happens ever so often. The band plays from a small boat that floats in the pool in the middle of the restaurant. We all four shared a tropical drink with crazy long straws and the typical Hawaiian Pupu platter.  We finished the night with sushi and a trip to The Cellar. 

For the final day we made our way to the wine country. Our first stop was J Vineyards and Winery (another one of Jon and I's favorite stops) and then on to Healdsburg, CA where we enjoyed lunch at Willie's and amazing baked goods from Moustache Baked Good.  Jon loves Oreos so finding a giant, homeade Oreo was like a dream for him. 

What a great way to finish our last full weekend in San Francisco! We made some unforgettable memories.  

P.S. Brad & Marybeth don't worry we won't show Ava all the pictures ;)

There's No Place Like Home

Since Jon and I set out on our adventure in Mid-October we realized it was the longest either of us had been out of the state of Texas. We flew home for a quick weekend at the beginning of December and then came home for a week and a half over the holidays, so we have been out of Texas for the equivalent of 3 months, give or take a few days. There are a lot of things we miss about the Lone Star State, but it is hard to explain just how different places (i.e. not Texas) can be until you experience it. Below is a list of things that Jon and I notice about the Bay Area and just how differently things are done here...

Top 10 reasons we know we're not in Texas anymore:

1. The term buttercream icing is taken very literal. It truly tastes just like creamed butter. You might as well ice your cupcake with a whole stick of butter and nothing else. 

2. People ask who is your "person" instead of wife/husband. After Jon had been at work about a week, one of the ladies pointed to his ring and asked him who his person was.  As you can imagine, Jon responded by saying that he doesn't have a "person", he has a wife. 

3. No Bluebell.... There are actually a lot of good ice cream joints in Berkeley and SF, but when you go to the grocery store all you get is Dreyers. 

4. They also ask if you want your milk shake made with soy or cows milk.

5. What's a union?

6. Cowboys games aren't on any channel. 

7. They think they know Mexican food, but bland salsa and stale chips just don't cut it. Not to mention some places don't even serve queso. 

8. People don't say excuse me they just stare or touch you if you are in their way.  Several times we have had the "excuse me stare" as we call it. 

9. Chinese food is made by actual Chinese people, not other random ethnicities.

10. That 5 leafed plant is everywhere.  You can't walk a block without getting a whiff.

Turkey Week in San Francisco

Jon and I had dinner with Chloe, Staci and Kyle the first night they arrived. 

Jon and Chloe created me out of wiki sticks and how nice of them to include my age

We did a little shopping at Loehmanns. Check out those heels!! 

I had visitors in town so what did we do? Of course we bike the bridge! It was only my 3rd time.  

Kyle biking Chloe across the Golden Gate in her wagon. 

A well deserved treat after all that hard work!! 

View of the GG from the ferry ride back to San Francisco. It doesn't matter how many times you have seen this view, it is always spectacular. 

Kelsie and I on the ferry. 

The Belew Family

Trying to catch one last picture on the chilly ferry ride. 

The Port of San Francisco 

 Happy Thanksgiving from the Boggans!!! 

We were blessed to have family that came to town and family that lives in town. My aunt and uncle were gracious enough to have all of us over for dinner. We had the best time hanging out and eating all of the delicious food.  

The Boys 

Jon and the Brittan Boys play a very competitive game of pool. 

Turkey......

and crab for Thanksgiving? Yes, please!!

The spread for Thanksgiving dinner. 

Uncle Jon and his Chlo-bear

Saying bye to the Belews before I took them to the airport the day after Thanksgiving.

Even though we were far away from lots of those we love, we were really thankful to have so much family here in the Bay Area to spend this holiday with. 

The Rock!

The month of December was a whirlwind!! Between Jon and I being iced in in Texas to our plans totally changing and my mom and I driving home a few days there was very, very little time for blogging.  This was a post I wrote over an month ago:

November 25, 2013

We have been in San Francisco since the middle of October and we finally made a trip to Alcatraz, it only took us 6 weeks. It is surprisingly difficult to get tickets to The Rock because the tours sell out so quickly. We heard the night tours are cool and creepy, but when we went to order tickets it was already sold out for the next month so regular, old day tour it was.

I have vague memories of visiting Alcatraz from when I was 4 years old, but I think I only remember it due to pictures and this was Jon's first trip. We were lucky enough to have family join us for the week of Thanksgiving including my sisters and their families (more to come about their visit in future posts).  For this outing it was my sister, Kristin, my oldest niece, Kelsie and my nephews Jackson, Spencer, and  Clayton along with Jon and myself.

View from the boat as we arrived at The Rock

When you stop and think about it, it is really strange that we have turned this prison into such a huge tourist attraction. Don't get me wrong, the mystic and awe draw me in just like every other tourist, but the propensity for a prison to be a tourist attraction is odd especially since we pay money to go to see it. That being said, I was totally stoked to finally be on the island.

Originally, Alcatraz was home to a military base and prison during the Civil War, but the tour focuses on its time as a prison.  It was a US Penitentiary from 1933-1963 when it housed many of the nations top criminals. A fun Texas fact for you: the last warden at Alcatraz was a Texan too. 

There were several things about Alcatraz that I learned that day, but the most shocking was families of the officers who worked in the prison lived on the island just next door to the prison building. How crazy is that? Could you imagine raising your children just feet away from prison inmates? A few pictures were posted of the children playing in the courtyard outside of their houses that formed their own little community. There is even a lady who volunteers in the gift shop that was raised on the island.

I enjoyed our day at The Rock and would recommend it to anyone who is in the Bay Area.   Of course it's touristy, but sometimes thats what makes it fun!!