Category Archives: Family

A Cousin’s Wedding

Posted on May 22, 2011 | 2 Comments

Many fun weekends were spent with cousins throughout my childhood. With all of us pretty much doing our own things these days, weddings have typically provided the best chance for some of us to reconnect.

So last weekend, we were all dressed up with somewhere to go.

Go running that is, for the toddler.

And exploring.

Taking a break for snacks and celebrating.

Heading over to the appetizers and drinks area.

For some water.

And wine.

2009 J. Lohr Estates Seven Oaks Cabernet Savignon – Paso Robles, CA.

This cabernet was excellent. Here are the winemaker’s comments:

A particularly dense vintage, this wine is red-purple in color with a bright hue. Aromas of black currant, plum and black cherry are lifted by a bouquet of vanilla, toasted pastry and spice from a year of barrel aging. The palate is bursting with primary fruit and a broad, rich tannin structure.

Jeff Meier, winemaker

2009 Cameron Hughes Lot 238 Chardonnay – Arroyo Seco, Monterey County, CA.

I enjoyed this chardonnay. Some tasting notes from their website:

Taste: Gorgeously ripe nose of honey drenched mango, coconut oil, and vanilla with just a kiss of jasmine. The nose leads into a supple mouthful of rich tropical fruit and graham cracker all riding on a honeyed beam of acidity. Most notably in the this wine, the pitch perfect fruit and acid tension.

Cheers!

Time to explore some more.

Circling back to the appetizers area.

On our way to the reception area.

More running around and exploring.

Back to the reception area.

Dinner time. Fun time.

The wedding was joyous and beautiful. Our best wishes to the bride and groom!

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Drinks, Family, Out-and-About

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The Sonoma Chicken Coop

Posted on April 28, 2011 | 2 Comments

When grabbing lunch didn’t pan out at the first ever SJ Eats (A Moveable Feast) earlier this month, my buddies and I decided on a Plan B:

The Sonoma Chicken Coop, a 5-minute walk from where we had come from. None of us had been to this restaurant before.

Plan B

It was still relatively early, so there weren’t that many people here when we arrived.

After asking some questions, I ordered their Red Ale on tap.

Beer. Yum.

But they ran out of it before the pitcher got half full. So I ordered a pitcher of the familiar, likeable Widmer’s Hefeweizen.

Very excited to try the Red Ale.

Here they are.

Oh. And also excited for the company, of course.

Thank you, sir.

But still, really excited to try out the Red Ale. :)

Red ale.

Cheers!

Cheers!

The Red Ale was great – crisp and refreshing. Dangerously drinkable.

Hefeweizen.

And what’s not to like about good ol’ Widmer Hefeweizen. Even I had already known about this beer, since a couple of years ago in fact.

On to the food.

Prime rib sandwich.

Yum.

BBQ chicken sandwich.

Also yum.

BBQ Saint Louis ribs.

Really yum.

I confirmed that all of us greatly enjoyed our meals.

Good times.

Upon leaving the restaurant, we noticed how packed the restaurant became. I suspect that the crowded and wildly successful SJ Eats event had something to do with that.

Great beers. Great food. Great company. Sometimes Plan Bs end up for the best.

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Dining Out, Family, Lunch-Dinner

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Attending the First Ever SJ Eats (A Moveable Feast) Event – Sort of

Posted on April 27, 2011 | 1 Comment

Earlier this month, I planned to attend SJ Eats (A Moveable Feast), a food truck event in downtown San Jose. It was the first of its kind in this neck of the woods.

My two best buds were able to go with me.

My buds.

The event started at 11:30 a.m. This is the crowd we saw when we got there at 11:45 a.m.

Crowded.

I was so happy to see such a huge turnout.

Still crowded.

I walked around a bit and quickly realized that the lines were too long and moving too slowly, and that we’d have to come up with a Plan B.

Yup. Still crowded.

All this fuss and super crowded conditions for 10 food trucks.

You guessed it.

Yet, as stated earlier, I was very happy. I don’t think that there was much marketing and advertising for this event, but this event went viral, so to speak. Very cool. What was even cooler was the event organizer’s quick response on the SJ Eats website two days after the event:

A Note from SJ Eats

Monday, April 4, 2011: Thank you for making SJ Eats the largest grassroots event ever held in Downtown SJ. Almost 10K people attempted to attend on Sat, April 2nd. We were set up to handle maybe half that. Many passed by only to leave in frustration due to extremely long wait times & chaotic lines. I want to sincerely apologize for the substandard experiences many of you endured. We have learned from Saturday and plan to implement several changes.

Long Wait Times — The massive attendance at SJ Eats is proof that San Jose has an incredible pent up demand for quality street food. The only way to meet this demand is to increase supply. For this reason, SJ Eats is immediately entering talks with City staff to start a weekly street food meet up in Downtown.

Line Management — We are investing in line management hardware to bring order to the chaotic system displayed at the lunch session.

These changes along with the addition of live music will help push SJ Eats to meet its true potential as a social connector for San Jose. If you have any suggestions, please comment HERE. We hope to see you in May at the next SJ Eats!

Ryan Sebastian, Organizer

Very nicely written. I loved the “social connector” part; I’m a big fan of community and supporting the community whenever I can. That’s why I was quite happy to see so many people show up even though that meant that I wouldn’t be able to try out any of the food trucks that day.

But next month’s SJ Eats event has already been set up, and it’ll be at a larger venue (“300% more space”) and with more food trucks. Plus, there’ve already been updates that this event will take place on a weekly basis soon. Very cool!

Oh, I just remembered this instant what I’ve come to realize only relatively recently about me – I pretty much hate crowds. Oh well. We’ll get there really early next time, and if it doesn’t work out again, we’ll just go with the flow. Perhaps go with another Plan B and head out somewhere nearby to eat.

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Family, Out-and-About

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2011 KraftBrew Beer Fest Part 1 of 2 – The Non-Beer Post

Posted on April 24, 2011 | 1 Comment

Though I have a number of older posts that need to be put up, I’m posting this one now because wifey and I are still talking about how much we loved the beers that we got to try, all of them for the first time, at this inaugural KraftBrew Beer Fest organized by the Naglee Park Garage bistro in downtown San Jose. The event was also our first family outing since wifey and the toddler’s return trip from Germany.

I originally found out about this event from a local newspaper blurb but knew I had to absolutely attend it after reading the detailed information from the BetterBeerBlog.

So yesterday, despite wifey and the toddler still experiencing jet lag, we checked this beerfest out. We got there a bit early, so we walked around the area, which was only a block away from the state university campus where I first met wifey.

On to some mostly non-beer pictures from this event. I’ve put up pictures of the beers that wifey and I had the good fortune to taste in Part 2 of 2.

Wifey and the toddler standing in front of the event building.

Arriving a bit early.

Standing in line to get in.

Standing in line.

Getting excited over all the glassware.

Glassware and programs.

The proverbial “kid in the candy store” moment.

Nice.

Already knowing which beer to try out first, but the reveal will have to wait until the next post, Part 2 of 2.

Nicer.

Nice cards.

Cool coaster.

Nice menu.

Menu.

Nice kid. While we waited for our order, the toddler got a head start on a pretzel that we brought from home.

Pretzel.

The toddler insisted on taking a picture with my camera, and what a shot! He captures a lot of interesting tidbits in the pic below. Like the gentleman bringing over our food and the important fact that I needed more beer.

The toddler's pic.

Sweet corn rolled in butter and queso fresco.

Corn.

Grilled asparagus.

Asparagus.

Dark ale braised bratwurst with sauerkraut in a bun.

Brat.

Enjoying the food.

Yum.

Checking out my camera.

Me.

Enjoying my beer.

Me again.

Getting more crowded.

Getting more crowded.

So we got there right at the beginning of the beerfest and left after about 1 1/2 hours. The toddler, who was awesome throughout, was getting just a bit restless, and I had a guitar class to get to.

A good time.

A huge thank you to the Naglee Park Garage bistro for organizing this event. We enjoyed our time immensely and will be sure to stop by the bistro soon.

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Drinks, Family, Out-and-About

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Values, Interests, Activities, and Happiness

Posted on April 10, 2011 | 1 Comment

As I discussed in an earlier post about the role of values in determining one’s qualify of life, my current, top values are family, health, and happiness. These values help bring a focus to my life, allowing me to better prioritize the things that I do. I’ve found to be rather accurate what many already know – that pursuing interests and engaging in activities that reflect and match up with my values almost always energizes me and makes me happy.

These days, the most frequent family-based activities include the following:

  • Going to farmers’ markets
  • Going to parks
  • Visiting my parents
  • Cooking
  • Eating meals
  • Drawing
  • Singing
  • Playing around
  • Reading
  • Going to the beach

I’ve also come to realize that I sometimes need some down time, and this is when I usually go online to watch TV shows and videos and to blog a bit, or go watch some TV on an actual TV.

On a related note, I’m really becoming more active in further exploring and cultivating some interests that have grabbed my attention of late. My top interests these days include the following:

  • Cooking with wifey – I help more with creating our weekly meal planning guide as well.
  • Learning to play the guitar – I recently signed up for a guitar class through a community education program.
  • Learning more about craft beer – I enjoy reading about craft beer almost as much as actually drinking good, craft beer.

I think I’m someone who prefers to plan ahead, though I certainly have spontaneity in me and the ability to just go with the flow. I also like thinking about the big picture and having a sense of context and meaning in what I do in life. Being aware of my top values and interests is a part of all that. And knowing that my top values are reflected in my top interests as well as my daily and weekly activities helps immensely. Further receiving amazing support and encouragement from my wife to continue to pursue these interests makes me extremely lucky.

I’ll end this post with a activity that’s been a daily highlight:

Skype Pic

Using Skype to help keep in touch with wifey and the toddler.

Skype Pic 2

Thanks, Skype.

Always Grateful,

~Andy

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Posted in Family, Work-Life-Balance