Our Two Year Anniversary

In keeping with the grand tradition of anniversaries past, Francis set up a surprise get-away for us! The silent road ahead was my only hint as to what we would be doing that weekend, as well as the fact that Francis had said I didn't need to bring dressy shoes. Hmmm? What could he be up to?

We headed northeast past Sacramento. Were we going to Tahoe? To Reno? The trees by the side of the freeway were gorgeous shades of red and orange. This photo does not do it justice.

It turned out Francis had planned a trip to Apple Hill! Apple Hill is a touristy collection of orchards in Placerville, CA. It is to apples what Napa is to grapes. The orchards sell all sorts of apple-related products as well as fun, autumn-themed activities.

Francis was wise and brought lunch for us. The food sold there was super expensive. We ate Trader Joe's salads and waved away the bees. I'm not sure why he packed Trader Joe's sliced apples though. There were plenty of apples there.

Apple Hill is a sugar addict's dream come true. So naturally, I was in heaven. Glass display case after display case filled with candy apples of all sorts. Homemade fudge, local honey, apples of varities we had never heard of (our favorite unusual variety was called Winesap), apple butter, apple syrup, apple salsa, apple pie, apple cake, apple dumplings, apple donuts, apple beer, apple wine, apple cider, apple juice. It was incredible!

Lots and lots of families with children visit for the pumpkin patches, hay bale mazes, and pony rides. Every orchard we visited was packed with people.

Vendors set up shop at the orchards and sell completely useless items like tie die shirts, hemp jewelry, unoriginal art, hand-knit pot holders, rubber band guns, glass trinkets, stuffed animal pillows, sushi-making kits, and those signs with catchy phrases that make you laugh for like one second. Actually, the rubber band guns were pretty awesome. If Cru and Hudson were allowed to have guns, we would have gotten them one.

Here I am, about to indulge in apple pie a la mode. Ahhhh...


Oh yeah...

Relaxing in the sun after a stressful week.

This photo has a history. Francis taste-tested and eventually purchased a super spicy Vidalia Onion and Jalapeno hot sauce. He was excited about it. It was tasty. After he purchased it, I put it into my purse for safe keeping. Then I wanted to try on a pretty princess hat. Then I wanted him to take a picture of me in the pretty princess hat. Then I pulled the camera out of my purse. Then the Vidalia Onion and Jalapeno hot sauce fell and broke on the ground. Then he took this photo of me feeling bad about being, once again, the clumsiest person on earth.

I needed an apple beer after that one. Apple beer is basically just 1/4 apple cider to 3/4 regular beer. Pretty golden color.

Contemplating two years of marriage, honey?

You can see the rolling foothills of the Sierras behind us. And you can also see a trout "pond" that they stock with poor captive fish and rent fishing rods so people can pluck the poor guys out of the teeny pond with minimal sportsmanship.

Our last stop of the day was a local brewery. You can grab a beer at the bar inside and then hang out on the lawn to drink it. Francis was of course attracted to the only game available. It was a version of horseshoes with beanbags.

A fiery sunset was our nightcap. We stayed at a renovated Holiday Inn in Rancho Cordova that was super nice and yet inexpensive.

The next afternoon, we had a sumptuous meal of Thai food in Sacramento. The owners had had a business in Daly City for twenty years, but they decided to pack up and move to Sacramento in 2005 at the height of the real estate boom there. They were probably in search of a larger home and wanted to cash in on the growing communities there. Unfortunately, Sacramento was hit hard by the bust. It seems like their business is still thriving however. The food was incredible!

We ordered egg rolls and pad thai, but my favorite dish was vegetarian sour coconut milk soup that arrived in a flaming hot pot with fire shooting out of the middle.

Sugary sweet Thai tea made with condensed milk. Thai people like to do flavors to the extreme: super spicy, super sweet, or super sour.

It was an awesome get-away. Can't wait for next year's adventure!

Leon and Cheryl's Fabulous Monterey Wedding

Our friends from Twenties, Leon and Cheryl, were married on Labor Day weekend. Their journey to this point has been long, faithful, and fraught with impossibilities. They met in elementary school in Singapore, attended high school together, happened to decide to go to the same college in Michigan, finally started dating long-distance after college, survived years of dating over the phone, and finally arrived at the point where they lived within 10 miles of each other. Go L&C go!


Cheryl chose to be married at a rustic farm in Monterey because she loves sheep. The experience of sitting in those chairs watching the ceremony was other-worldly. God was there. The warm sun was on our faces, the clouds swept gently across the sky, and we all sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" to our creator, who seemed to be beaming down on Leon and Cheryl, pleased with his two "sheep" who are basing their marriage on Him.

James drove all the way from his new home in SoCal to celebrate.

Studly ManGroup men.

Lovely Ma'amGroup ladies.

Twenties folk partaking in libations and witty banter. They served killer mojitos with fruit at the bar!

Leon and Cheryl honored their parents and relatives by performing an Asian tea ceremony. They knelt before their relatives and offered them a gift of tea and received a red envelope in return. I am all about the red envelope tradition. So glad I married a Chinese man!

Reception dinner with other Twenties friends.

Vic being...Vic.

Vacation to the Russian River, Santa Rosa, CA

Waffles. Sweet, golden waffles. Waffles oozing with butter and rich syrup. Is there anything more enjoyable on a vacation morning? Not in this girl's opinion.

Francis and I enjoyed a quick vacation to the Russian River in the last week of August. We stayed at a wonderful hotel that offered a pool and a vast array of breakfast foods (served until 11:00am on weekends!) I had just stayed at this same hotel the week before with my mom during her visit to check out neighborhoods in Santa Rosa.


We enjoyed the pool on one particularly hot afternoon.

We packed a yummy picnic lunch from Trader Joe's and rented a canoe to float down the Russian River. The river is cold and clear. It is lined with picturesque rock formations and large bushels of bear grass, which I buy at the flower market to use in flower arrangements. We had to stand up and lift the canoe through a few shallow areas since it is the end of the summer and the river is low. I taught Francis everything I know about canoe paddling. He bravely acted as "captain" in the rear of the canoe and safely negotiated us through rapids and away from scary tree stumps hidden in the water. He did get one of his running shoes wet though, and it smelled something fierce for the rest of the weekend.

We also stopped for a swim at a deeper area of the river that had cool rocks...

The water was cold! I only got in half way. Francis went completely under. It was really hot that day, but there was a good amount of cloud cover (which is strange for California at this time of year). We totally lucked out because the sun would have been unbearably hot.

We'll call this series "Isolation on a Rock Island". Dramatic.

And of course, in the Tao family tradition, we had to splurge on some great meals out!

We treated ourselves to some pints and dinner at an Irish pub in downtown Santa Rosa. Francis had the fish and chips and I had the pulled pork sandwich. My mom and I had loved this place when we ate there the week before.

On the walk home from dinner at the Irish pub, we stopped by Macy's to use up some gift cards I'd been lugging around forever. I bought a stylish purse for only $7.00 after I used the gift cards! It is much larger than my old purse, which I've been squeezing stuff into for almost three years.

After Macy's, we happened to walk by a lively Italian restaurant. The noise from inside spilled out onto the sidewalk as we walked by. It looked like so much fun in there,we returned the next night for dinner. I had four cheese fettuccine and he had lasagna.

We went on a hike in Austin Creek State Reserve on the hottest day of our vacation. It was in the 90's for sure. We were dripping with sweat after a short 2.3 mile hike up the hill and back. Luckily the last leg of the hike went through a deep redwood forest that was cooler than everywhere else. Some of the trees in that stand were between 1000-1300 years old.

We had another Trader Joe's picnic in Austin Creek Reserve. You can't tell by our smiles, but we are covered in sweat. Just sitting there...sweating.

We went bowling on our last night in Santa Rosa. It was disco bowling night at Windsor Bowl! Black lights, music, and disco balls. After nearly two years of marriage, I discovered a new fact about my husband. He bowls without using his thumb.

In the photo below, Francis captured my second shot after the video. I got a strike!

We had such a relaxing time, even though Santa Rosa is only an hour and a half north of where we live. We felt rejuvenated, our marriage was rekindled, and we are ready to attack our work with renewed energy.

The Overnight Job at the Hyatt

This is the story of a man, a dumptruck, and a seemingly impossible project.

This man gathered four other gallant men to join him on his quest.

To climb great heights and remove shriveled bushes, pigeon-soiled stones, feathers, nests, eggs, and a wing (yes, a single, unaccompanied bird wing) from a second story window-box ledge at the Hyatt Regency in downtown San Francisco.

They encountered many adversities, such as removing several tons of soiled stone from the ledge and replacing it with fresh stone, preventing the scissor lifts from tipping on uneven surfaces, and convincing drunk passersby not to get too close to the job site.

They were ultimately successful though. Around 6:00am, our brave knight called it a night...when he noticed one of his cohorts looking rather sleepy while aloft a scissor lift. And he finally returned home to his princess, who was sound asleep in bed.

Lazy Sunday

Dolce likes to hang out with Daddy and watch basketball on TV.

Some fierce orange and hot pink roses, courtesy of our landlord's green thumb.