Our Anniversary! The First!

As of last weekend, we've been married a year! A year, can you believe it? Well I know we have a hard time :D.

And so much has happened in that year. We went to Hong Kong for our honeymoon, I got my fiance visa (technically our wedding in the Philippines was only a religious ceremony), my whole family flew to the US, where Gerard and I got legally married, and we settled into our apartment. And I settled into life in Concord.

We went to L.A. for Thanksgiving and spent Christmas in Virginia. I got my driver's license, a total of two haircuts the whole year (they're expensive) and started taking graphic design classes. Gerard traveled a lot for work, L.A., Chicago, Vegas. And he's going to Germany sometime this year too.

We moved apartments, bought a washer/dryer, and settled into our current home. I work from home, cook dinner, and help Gerard catch up with his laundry. We go for long drives (usually in search of some craving I have, some random thing I want to see), movie dates, and walks in the park. Our place isn't always 100% neat but I've learned to live with that.

We watch TV, run errands, and we're starting to plan our meals too.

Sure, we fought. But I figured that's part of adjusting to living together, learning about each other, and being married!

For anniversary weekend, we did quite a lot.

We cooked a yummy dinner of Seared Scallops, Salmon Sashimi, Mussels and Pasta + BBQ Ribs on Friday night.

Saturday, we drove to Napa and had merienda at the Oxbow Public Market, a "Napa-fied" version of San Francisco's Ferry Building.

I really wanted to try the ice cream from Three Twins but their freezer was buggy so they were only selling by the pints and gallons that day.

So I got me some mini cupcakes instead from Kara's Cupcakes (I love the Fleur de Sal one! My new favorite!)

 

And we had the Cachapa or sweet corn pancake with meat and cheese filling from Pica Pica. 

It was really yummy!

Afterwards, we drove to a few Napa thrift stores where I scored some awesome books, especially a design book recommended by my illustrator teacher. It's price at $15 on Amazon but I got it for $1. Thrift store shopping rocks!

And stopped by the golf course on the way home to take some pictures. Good thing too! Cause when we actually went to play golf the next day (my awesome anniversary gift to Gerard) I had left the memory card at home! Rookie mistake.

But here are some shots of us at the golf course in Napa. (We didn't play here though, we played in Concord. This was just for a photo op.)

Our golf game was pretty awesome even though golf cart rentals were only for seniors and the disabled. So we walked, I dragged my bag along, played 9 holes and tied at that! Was a decent game with both of us scoring two over bogey.

Happy Anniversary to us! Here's to many more years of adventures ahead!

(Sappy sentiments not to be posted online, only written in cards.)

Updates + Spring Bazaar

I've been one busy bee huh. Yep, that's me. Moving, celebrating, waiting for the cable guy, waiting for the internet guy, selling on etsy, unpacking, buying furniture, studying, I could go on!

Our place isn't quite photo ready yet (I admit, that photo of the bedroom took ten minutes of tidying up.) But I'm hoping to make headway in the dining room soon as we just bought a new buffet table! (Well, not really new as it came from Craigslist, but new to us anyhow. Don't you just love Craigslist?) 

As for the bedroom, the husband has to build his Pax wardrobe closet from Ikea before we can put away most of his clothes. AND we still need a dryer. We bought a washer from the Sears Outlet the other week but no dryer. So I've got a huge amount of laundry waiting to be done and the pile is growing every day!

Oh the every day nuances of married life :D. So with all this going on, I realizes it's a little over a month until the SPRING BAZAAR that I'm joining! I'd better get a move on it, designing products to sell. I hope my new box of printer ink arrives soon!

In the meantime, if you're in the bay area on April 16, please do check out the Spring Bazaar which is going to be held at the Winery, on Treasure Island, San Francisco. I do sure hope to see you there!

P. S. I've also been studying blog designing. "Chocolate" (as I fondly called this blog) is due for some design tweaks. I've made the switch to Wordpress on "Studio" as I like to call my "professional" blog, Studio Alcantara. Please do stop by!

On Riding Trains

I’m sitting on the BART as I write this and I can’t help but marvel about how my life has changed.

My wedding ring winks at me from my left hand and from my window I can see the sun setting over San Francisco, where I’m headed to for my first graphic design class.

Growing up, I could never have fathomed that this would be my life someday.

In fifteen weeks (I only know that because I’m headed home as soon as this class is done) I will be on a plane headed back to the Philippines, for the first time since I’ve moved to the US. I will have been gone for a year and I wonder how things will have changed there.

Life’s a funny thing like that. Never thought I would become a teacher. Never thought that I would marry Gerard and we would end up living in the Bay Area. (Ok fine, maybe I did have thoughts of marrying Gerard haha.) Never really thought about what leaving home would be like and how much I would miss my family every day.  (Working in media and design, not so shocking since I did major in communication.)

Yet, here I am, on a train, amazed by my reflection and location, in the window.

I guess sometimes, it’s when you’re forced to sit down and wait to get somewhere that you realize how far you’ve come.

On another note, poor Chocolate, Vanilla, and Then Some has been sorrily neglected in favor of hellowhimsy and etsy! I’m hoping that once life settles down a bit, I’ll have more time to write here again.

But on the other hand, I have loved the fact that I’ve been living life offline, and not just writing about it.

The Chocolate Festival at Ghirardelli Square

A few weeks ago, I got a coupon for 50% for 15 tastings at the Annual Chocolate Festival at the Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. It was a no brainer, we immediately bought the tickets and looked forward to a day full of chocolate in the city.

We got really excited looking at all the different vendors they had, especially Ciao Bella Gelato among others. So on Sept. 11, bright and early, we headed into the city. (Well not too early as we like to sleep in a little on Saturdays and have brunch.) Upon our arrival at our Ghirardelli Square, imagine our dismay at the humongous crowd we saw, with super long snaky lines of people all waiting for their tastings! 

View from afar. I know it doesn't look that packed but wait til you get inside.

These people are mostly waiting in line.

We figured we didn't really want to wait too long for a tiny taste of chocolate so we chose a few that we wanted to try. We got to try pistachio caramel popcorn, a bite of bread, a tiny chocolate pancake, freeze dried fruit, a brownie bite, and I think.... that's about it.

Bread bites, I believe.

We did sit down to watch an R&D guy from Ghirardelli explain how chocolate is made but we didn't stay for very long.

Almond Spiced Popcorn

Sure, we would have wanted to try the chocolate martinis, chocolate infused teas, or mini Ghirardelli sundaes but we felt the portion in ratio to the wait in line just didn't cut it. But it was fun looking at all the different stuff they had on the menu!

And it was nice to spend a day out exploring San Francisco which we ended by having dinner in Chinatown. I know we would have enjoyed it so much more if there hadn't been such a huge crowd and a minimum ten minute wait to get a small bite of something that would fit in the palm of my hand. But at $20 per 15 tastings, I guess the value was ok. (We got ours for $10 though plus we got one more free for paying with visa, thanks to Living Social.) It was an experience in itself, but not something we're looking to repeat next year. 

Maybe the San Francisco Chocolate Salon would be less stressful more up our alley?

In Search of French Pastries

I love that my husband loves me enough to give into my cravings.

For the last two weeks, I've had French pastries on the brain and I searched and searched all over the internet to find out where to get the yummy sandwich cookies called French Macaroons. (I think the last time I'd had these wonderfully delicate cookies were in Manila, from my friend Audrey's French pattiserie in Manila, Bizu.)

One place kept popping up: The Bouchon Bakery in Yountville, up in Napa. (Lucky for us, Napa is only 40 minutes or so away.) So one Sunday, without anything planned, I managed to convince him to spend an afternoon checking out Yountville. And while in the car, I read him reviews of this bakery. (Note: my husband is a chef/food scientist so good food is always an awesome topic of conversation.)

So after 40 minutes or so, we found ourselves in the quaint town of Yountville, a starting/ending point for many people who come to Napa for wine tasting and the like. 

I had already read about the bakery being small and the lines being long so that was no surprise. But the line moved quickly enough and my husband was pleased to discover that the bakery was beside the Bouchon, a Thomas Keller restaurant, that he would like for us to try one of these days. (My husband loves checking out restaurants to add to our list.)

But today, after five minutes of waiting in line, we came out with a croissant and three French macaroons. Husband had the croissant. I was more interested in the macaroons.

And they were exactly like how I'd expected them to be. The cookies were delicately crunchy on the outside, wonderfully sweet and chewy on the inside, and the creamy feeling in the middle was pure heaven. The whole thing just left an aroma of flavor in your month. 

In the case of my first cookie, it was blissful hazelnut. The other two I chose were chocolate and pistachio. And since the cookies were huge, (most French macaroons are near bite size, these were the size of whoopie pies!) I tucked the box into my purse and decided to save the rest for later.

The bakery had other yummy looking stuff on display too.

And these are the chocolate Bouchons, brownie bites baked with chocolate chips and dusted with confectioner's sugar but at $2 a pop, we decided maybe next time.

After the bakery, we decided to explore Yountville a bit and it was a pretty cute place. They had some gorgeous shops with glass art, jewelry, and fine art. And at the Bottega store (by the Bottega restaurant of Chef Chiarello Bottego), I had a taste of truffle salt that left me craving for more. I had visions of french fries and popcorn sprinkled with truffle salt... Yum. But truffles are another topic altogether.

We're definitely passing by the Bouchon Bakery again the next time we're in Napa. But at $3 a French Macaroon, that could become an expensive habit if done too often. Maybe just one cookie at a time?

But then again... didn't my husband study French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu? Doesn't that mean he could probably make me some of these at home? Hmmm.... let's go find a French macaroon recipe...

Napa Nights

Sixty something wines, awesome food stands, plus free entertainment, all added up to a great night with friends in St. Helena, Napa Valley.

On our last trip to St. Helena, I noticed this poster for a "street celebration" of sorts, held every first Friday of the month from August til October and I casually mentioned to Gerard that it might be fun to do. Dubbed "Cheers! St. Helena", I mentioned it to some friends too and we made plans to meet up in Napa Valley to check it out.

35 dollars gets you a bracelet, a plastic cup, AND unlimited wine tasting of wines from all over Napa Valley. Not a bad deal, if you ask me, especially if you're into wine. Sadly, I've been steering clear of it as I've been prone to migraines lately so I was after the FOOD! And I was not disappointed.

Check out my photos.

First tasting, a sweet Rose.

Gerard having another pour. Notice the fancy shmancy wine bus. 

You can book it for private tours.

Entertainment provided by The California Repercussions.

There was also a great acoustic band tucked away in a corner.

This is what I was after! Yummy Tri-Tip Steak Sandwich!

And the grilled corn was super sweet!

And of course, dessert! Lemon and Blood Orange Gelato. 

Nothing beats Gelatissimo though!

At the Cheer! St. Helena website I found out that you can get a season pass for $75. This would be worth it if we lived nearer the area but I think I'm ok with once or twice a year visit. 

The St. Helena Main Street is very pretty and they've got a lot of promising restaurants and cute stores. One of my favorites was Olivier Napa Valley, which sells gourmet oils and specialty food. I've been dying to buy a bottle of their truffle oil and the spinach artichoke dip we sampled was super yummy!

Photo from Oliviernapavalley.com

St. Helena is definitely on my list of places to take friends and guests too. I love quaint little main streets like theirs, which aren't too bustling but full of interesting finds.

All in all, my first Cheers! was a great evening and I'm definitely coming back to St. Helena for more.

Music and the Market

I think we're really lucky that we live within walking distance to the Concord Farmer's Market which is held Tuesdays throughout the year and Thursdays from April to October.

I usually like to go both times during the week. On Tuesdays mornings, it's a great excuse to get out, walk, and enjoy the sunshine. I love any excuse to be outdoors and the Farmer's Market at Todos Santos Square is full of people and awesome goodies. My favorites are the Ranier cherries, which are huge, yellow cherries that are super delicious. Too bad cherry season ended last week. Boo! But they got lots of other yummy fruits, peaches, nectarines, apples, blueberries, you name it. They also got an awesome array of vegetables, artichokes, beans, squash, anything and everything!

My first Tuesday out there, I actually saw a fresh oyster stand which hasn't been back since (to my husband's disappointment.) But I did come home with yummy Afghan squash bolani, garlic, cream cheese and mint dip, comb honey, and of course, cherries.

Gerard and I now have a standing Thursday afternoon/evening date wherein we take a picnic blanket and bottle of water and we walk to the square to have dinner there. There are so many food stands to choose from, we've decided we're going to try them all!

One time we had a an enormous Louisiana links sandwich and mini churros with chocolate sauce. Another time it was grilled rib-eye teriyaki with fried rice, a crabcake, and a grilled artichoke. There's lots more to choose from, like baked potatoes, more barbecue stuff, Indian food, oven baked pizza and there's even a Filipino stall that sells fresh lumpia, barbecue, and sago! (How awesome is that?) 

Aside from the food stalls, there are farmer's market goodies like plants and flowers, organic eggs, home made goodies, huge bags of kettle corn, and scented handmade soap too! 

Of course on the way home I like to make a quick stop at Half Price Books but I digress.

And on Thursdays, there are free concerts. I think the groups probably change weekly but we haven't stayed that long at the market to actually find out. 

I love that we have a weekly,  local, outdoors thing to do. We can sit on the grass, enjoy the sunshine, eat yummy food, and just relax. There's just something about the simplicity of it that keeps us in the moment that we thoroughly enjoy. Totally another reason why I like living in Concord.