Nerdy wedding guests

22 06 2013

20130622-095711.jpg

Puppy came home to Dallas for the weekend! We drove to Houston last night for a wedding. (The photo above is the view from our hotel room.)

We only know the bride and the nerdier side of the guests – she and Puppy went to the same Ph.D program. She graduated in May. He graduates next May, just in time for our June wedding. 😀

Now off to see the new Superman movie.





To Dallas, with love from San Francisco

17 06 2013

Today’s my last day in California; Texas here I come!

SFChinatown

I had two full, great days in San Francisco! The majority of day one I spent in Chinatown. It really has it’s own distinct vibe that’s different from the rest of the city. After spending hours walking around the neighborhood, I bought some cute bracelets and a kalimba, which I used to accompany the mood of day two with Puppy. (I did eat at the Hang Ah Tea Room like I’d planned, but don’t recommend it.) Then I visited Golden Gate Park and hit up City Lights bookstore before hoofing it to BART and eating dinner with Puppy at a barbecue place in downtown Livermore. It was pretty good, and I feel as though I have some authority on the subject as a native Texan.

LenaFishes

PuppyFishes2

PuppyLovePuppyKisses

Aquarium and Tea Garden pics (I look like a crazy person in the aquarium pics)

On day two, Puppy took me to the California Academy of Sciences, and got to experience full, unfettered Leners-excitedness about marine life in the Steinhart Aquarium and frogs in the Rainforest exhibit. I took soooo many photos of frogs, my favorite animal, and made him sit with me for a very long time in front of one of the tanks to take the above photo with the huge fish behind us. He was very accommodating, if a bit flabbergasted at my enthusiasm at times. Think a subdued Kristen Bell reaction to sloths. We then ate lunch there, visited the Japanese Tea Gardens and walked around Golden Gate Park before leaving to check into our hotel — where we ran into car trouble. We had a front oil leak that caused the oil to run dry, which is apparently a huge deal?

Now it’s day three, of which I spent the majority in the hotel room sleeping and slothing about because of the lack of transportation and limited time before I had to be at the airport. (The Livermore bus system rivals Dallas buses in inefficiency. It took me about three hours to get to San Francisco from Livermore.) I was a little disappointed that Puppy got so worked up and anxious about the car and remained so all evening; it took a lot of effort on my part to calm him down to try to enjoy the time we had left. Eventually he did calm down and we were able to walk about, snuggle and play the “How well do you know your groom” game Mama C gave me.

I’m going to miss the rainbow flags in downtown S.F., and snuggling… but Puppy’s flying in to Dallas next weekend for a wedding so we’ll be able to continue being snuggle bunnies then.

FROGS! Gotta love ’em.

Frog2Frog1Frog5Frog6Frog4





San Francisco Day 1

14 06 2013

I think I’ve gotten public transport in the Bay Area figured out, and in no small part because of 511 Transit, a nice little app that tells you how to get from point a to b via BART.

I’m trying to fit a lot in today since I spent my first two days in San Fran sick in bed. The plan: visit Chinatown, eat lunch at Hang Ah Tea Room, visit the De Young Museum, hit up a bookstore and swing by the Golden Gate recreation area before heading back to Livermore to have dinner with Puppy.

20130614-104203.jpg

Last night, we ate dinner at Nonni’s in Pleasanton with Puppy’s advisor. It was very pleasant; we ate on the patio and the butter came shaped like a rose.





PCH Day 2

11 06 2013

Well, I’d planned on getting to my hotel and going through my photos right away. But sometimes life doesn’t go as planned and I was too tired to do anything but eat and then sleep when I got to Cambria. So here’s a filler until I do.

Image

I ate lunch at Moby Dick on Stearn’s Wharf in Santa Barbara with my hat and sunglasses to keep me company. Don’t they almost look like a person? It was a bit touristy, but fun and a much needed rest from driving.

Alas, I’ll have to photo dump later. 🙂 And, I’m excited to begin day two of my Pacific Coast Highway trip – journeying to Puppy. I can’t wait to see him again. It’s only been a few weeks… but you know, young love. We’re celebrating our 11-year anniversary in San Fransisco. How awesome is that? And on our 12-year anniversary? We’re getting married!

My heart feels so full of good cheer as I start out on the road again. I’ve got a bit of a late start; it’s already 11:30 a.m. so I’d better get going!

Live with love.





Trendy Tuesday: Fowl floor lamp

8 05 2013

FowlFloorlamp

Puppy and I stumbled across this great floor lamp yesterday at Central Market. It goes with the birdy birdie throw pillows, knick-knacks and curtains. I’ve already begun to hang clothes off the branches – specifically, infinity scarves.

Next comes the bird hooks to hang gardening tools and whatnot.

Also, Kate Beckett from Castle wears GREAT fashion.





Day six: Puppy face, sleepy time fun

7 01 2012
By ELENA HARDING

PuppyFace

My boyfriend and I stayed in and watched South Park instead of going out to a movie. He got sleepy. I had some fun.

This is so incredibly easy to do. You just point the flashlight at the camera. I used a keychain LED for the face since the camera was pretty close and a larger LED work light, 3/4 covered, to light him.

Also, the more I think about the last photo post, the more I think I like TollwayUnderpass1 better than the top image.

To follow my 365 project, visit 365project.org/lenerslens/365.





Nikon D4

6 01 2012

Last night Nikon announced its new DSLR digital camera. This thing looks awesome! Too bad it costs about $6,000, but hopefully it drives the price for refurbished D3s down.

Thanks for the heads up, Puppy!