Halloween 2008

So this Halloween we had a really full house! The cats already know the drill - sit in the window, and great all the TOT's... Here's Bogle wearing the Scaredy Cat Ribbons that I got them from the craft store:

And Indy was happy to answer the door with us, and hand out the candy - she even liked her pumpkin t-shirt!

We set out a bunch of food with a fun little menu:

Ardie and sweet Indy...gotta hold her in your arms while we still can!!!

And me with Noghle - it was a fun little night, and hopefully next year we have more trick-or-treaters!

Playing in the Backyard

Indy is adjusting to life at our house so well...it's only been a week! Ardie and I have both had dogs, so we know how lucky we are to have Indy and her great little personality...



So we took her out in the backyard for a little one-on-one w/Dad while I took pictures...



Mom, these are what real abs look like. (And BTW, you need a pedicure.)



Snoozing with one of her favorite toys...Mr. Moose!

Meeting Giada

So anyone who's known me for even a short length of time knows that my female crush is Giada De Laurentiis from Food Network fame. And when I found out that she was doing a book signing for her 4th cookbook - Giada's Kitchen - at the Sur La Table in San Jose, I couldn't pass up the opportunity.



I drove to S.F. and met Shadi, Fargol, Arianna and Trent - and we drove to Santana Row from there. I'd never been to this outdoor mall, and I have to say that it is certainly a place I would love to visit more frequently!

We waited in line for literally hours, but it was certainly worth the wait. Giada was so warm and personable - and it really made up for everything! (Er - at least for me!)



We were completely famished afterwards, so we had lunch at the Village Bistro (their Grilled Ham, Tomato & Gruyere sandwich is fantastic!), and then walked around a bit before going home...



Hey - get your paws off of Mommy's book!

Introducing Indy

So I can't really tell you how it happened - it just did. We found the perfect dog for our family. It started out innocently enough - idle chat about how we both wanted a dog, and then progressed to weekday/weekend visits at the local shelter (where we got both cats). And we realized that we really wanted a puppy - the cats were going to totally freak if it wasn't at least close to their size, and we really wanted them to all grow up together. So I answered an ad from the local paper, and guess who we found:



A little [but not for long] Golden Retriever that we named Indiana - Indy for short - since that's where Ardie and I first met. The first night was quite the adventure - both the cats were trying to figure out who was monopolizing our room!



Day One: Quite the exhausted pup!

Fall 2008

Can you believe it? The signs of Fall have already begun - leading with the tree in our front yard shedding its leaves:



While Ardie was busy planting new trees in our backyard, I decorated the front:



And now thanks to my industrius husband, we now have several new fruit trees, including my personal favorite - a fig tree!



I can't wait to make some great recipes with them next year!