I have finished my Project 365 Challenge. Yah!!! I’ve taken pictures of food and drinks from May 24, 2007, to May 24, 2008.
It was an intense challenge. I admit I missed a few days. However, I think 377 photos in this collection show a complete pictures of our eating and drinking adventures.
My Oral Fixations blog has more details on the food and drinks featured in this challenge. Enjoy!
Talking Dark Knight, convergence and travel with hubby and Medill buddy at the View.
Something sweet to and drink at Little Prauge in Davis
On St. Patrick’s Day, we searched Murphys Irish Pub in Sonoma.
Sonoma’s adorable town — plenty of cute shops, history and wine. We want to check it out again, some day.
Last night’s holiday festivities spilled out of the pub and took over the patio area shared by other businesses. Families, college students, and veteran Irish revelers mingled loudly. The bartenders kept it simple with drinks: Guinness or other Irish brews on tap and straight liquor. They said “no” to Mai Tai’s, Long Island Iced Teas and other fancy cocktails.
The Spiral Mystics played Irish drinking songs and American oldies in front of a French bakery.
St. Patrick’s Day from Kris Vera-Phillips on Vimeo.
They also did a folky rendition of Sinnerman. It made me think of my Medill buddy, Sara. We both loved how Thomas Crowne Affair (the remake with Pierce Brosnan and Renee Russo) used that song in the final heist of the movie.
An Irish Sinnerman from Kris Vera-Phillips on Vimeo.
Slainte!
I love this warm February weather. I’m in a better mood with all the sunshine. Mark and I are just tickled with seeing 70 degree temperatures before March. I feel like I have more energy to do stuff in this t-shirt weather. This morning, I finished running 2 miles by Alamo Creek.
And this weekend, we explored the wine country in Lodi. My co-worker gave us free tickets to the Wine and Chocolate Festival. It was a lovely, romantic way to kick-off our Valentine’s Day holiday.
We first stopped at the Michael-David Vineyard off Highway 12. I overheard folks from Sacramento and beyond drove down to this vineyard to restock on their vino supplies. I sampled the 2005 Earthquake Syrah by the duck pond. We learned that Lodi was all about the Zins. We enjoyed drinking every spot’s version of the Zinfandel.
Here’s Mark getting friendly with the barnyard residents at Michael-David’s. This winery had beautiful grounds for outdoor picnics and lazy walks. I enjoyed the 2006 Heavenly Chard with its buttery finish. I also enjoyed the 2004 6th Sense Syrah with its rich tones of oak and berries.
I’ve finished another action-pack week at work. My weekend morning shows were quite exciting with all the breaking news. On Saturday, our chopper got all that amazing flooding video. My boss kept calling back to our editors to make sure they were taping everything. Later, CNN and NBC picked up the video and used it for their weather coverage. On Sunday, our LA affiliate hooked me up with their satellite coordinates. So I ended up taking live chopper video of another flooding accident in Pasadena plus a bus hitting a donut shop near USC.
After work, we tried going to church. Then I saw a PT Cruiser run a red light and smash head-on with another car. I got out of the car to make sure the driver of the smashed car was OK. We missed church because I had to give a statement to police. Afterwards, I pondered the whole accident business. A few hours before, my crew was aggressively pursuing those crashes in Southern California. Now, I was more intimately involved in another one. It felt jarring to switch hats from being a journalist to a civilian witness.
OK — enough about work.
Here’s an example of playing hard, Mark riding the slopes. We went snowboarding at Soda Springs for the MLK Holiday. It’s just off I-80, on the way to Truckee. We needed to use chains by Gold Run. I helped Mark attach them to the tires.
Getting ready for New Year’s Eve dinner and fireworks in Old Sacramento. Then I go to work. This is my Friday. I’m happy I get to spend the last hours of 2007 and the first hour of 2008 with my hubby.
The concept of a White Christmas is overrated. We enjoyed beautiful sunny weather for the holiday. I figured Napa would be a nice place to spend Christmas Eve. We drove around the valley and checked out a few spots still open for wine tasting. These are the wine barrels at Grgich.
Several winery spots closed early for the holiday. We got lucky with Grgich and we saw that business was bumping on Christmas Eve. Folks at Grgich Hills say they’re known for organic and biodynamic wines. It’s suppose to be better for the environment and the vines. I suppose that translates to the flavor of their vintages.
We woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning in Laramie. I’m blogging from the Coral Creek Coffee Company and about to bite into my bagel with veggie cream cheese.
We said good-bye to Kansas yesterday. A cold start to another cross-country road trip. Daisy made herself at home in the back seat. I’m happy we didn’t have a medicated puppy on this ride.
Here’s one last look at Kansas. We thought about taking a meandering pace. But we were worried about the forecast for a weekend ice storm and snowfall. We ended-up taking advantage of the clear skies. We drove through Nebraska and crossed over to Wyoming.
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