So we meet again...

Well, we know who won't be winnng the "Most Frequent Blogger" award this year. Yikes. I'm very aware (and sorry) that it has been at least a month since we last talked, but I assure you things have been as busy and interesting as ever in the Coffee residence. We were hardly bored during the first month of 2012. I'll do my best to summarize 31 days without losing the best highlights or writing a novel.


New Year's Eve was a riot. Chris and I put our Top Chef skills to the test by making a delicious dinner at home. Then, I put on my best blue jeans, straightened my hair, and called it a fancy night. The local bar was graced by our presence for at least 1.5 hours before the booze and thoughts of stretchy pants danced in our heads. At that point, there was no turning back. We rung in 2012 asleep on our couch. Judge as you may, but we did wake up at 4:30 am to re-enact the real thing. If Chris didn't think I was crazy before, I'm pretty sure that sealed the deal.

A couple days later, I flew to Utah for work. The jackpot (for those of you that don't know already) is that my favorite brother happens to live there! Of course the conference I was attending was super riveting, but I'll spare you those details. We'll skip right to when Chris and Brandon joined me for 5-star service we were super immature about (see below pics for samples). The trip was a blast... a little snow, lots of sibling love, and entertainment galore. We did remote control bowling, arcade gaming, farkel domination, and sipped on a few cocktails throughout.  If you're not familiar with farkel, google it and get familiar. (Hm, I feel that I deserve an advertising payment from both farkel and google. I mean... at least 8 people are going to read this including me.) There is never a dull moment when you get the middle and youngest Gwaltney children together, that's for sure. If I told you more, it would be a cheap blogging version of the best reality TV show you've never seen. No one wants to see "Coffee with Coffee" go there.

We thought we should do a photo shoot in our robes, being sophisticated and all. You might think I'm drinking champagne... it's Coors Light.



What a view!

The weekend after UT, my dad came in town! He flew into SF, and we had a great day touring the city and Alcatraz. Unfortunately, it rained the ENTIRE time he was here. Looking back, I'm pretty sure it's the only full weekend it's rained since we've been here. It didn't stop us from having a good time though! In addition to site-seeing in SF, we hung out in LG, went to the Santa Cruz boardwalk and watched a marathon of crime shows. It was sad to see him head back to TX, but I think he had a good time doing our work outs and eating cupcakes. I know those activities might seem like opposites,  but I like to think of it as living a balanced lifestyle. Which is a great transition to the next weekend, because...

Mom comes in town! Wine, cheese, flat bread, beer, hummus, more flat bread... oh, you wanted to hear about more than just what we ate? Hmph. Ok. We hung in San Francisco and it was a beautifully perfect day. We did a trolley tour of the city, hung out at Pier 39 and walked through the Ferry Building. The next day in LG, we hiked at least 60 miles (right, mom????) or something close before going on a wine-tasting tour at the local wineries. That landed us in our stretchy pants having a dance recital until all hours of the night. Completely normal, right? Then on her last day, we did some birthday shoppng and built a stuffed Chris. Stuffed Chris pics included below, dancing pics intentionally not included.

We bought Chris shoes and clothes for his b-day and decided to give it to him early while Mom was there. This is how we wrapped it.

Thirsty anyone?

And now we're to the "next" weekend, which was last weekend. I really wanted to skip writing about it, but it felt somewhat dishonest. Let me sum it up for you: food, wine, sleep, football, work, and more food. What's missing you ask? Activity. Don't judge. It happens to the best of us.

While I honestly feel this is too much for one blog, what is a girl to do??? I have to get caught up before the best option is to give up! So... we'll press onward through the current weekend. Friday night we saw The Vow. Chris asked if I thought Channing Tatum was hot, and my response was less than suave. I'm pretty sure the blank deer-in-headlights-stare withdrew from the love account. I will say though, I feel a little set up. Did he not know the answer after the rounds of applause the audience handed out anytime he showed some skin during the movie?!?!! Booty trap. Pun intended. Saturday consisted of  a Thai massage (nothing sketchy... I have proof below), frozen yogurt, 5 cent wine bonanza, Valentine's homemade dinner and movie night. What a weekend!

So this brings us to the end! It was a January and it was awesome, blogging or not. For the forward-looking readers, I'm trying to convince Chris Coffee to return once again. Keep your fingers crossed!



A December to Remember

I can't believe I haven't posted since last year! Ok, I know that's the all-time cheesiest line this time of year, but how could I resist? Besides, I need to build up your tolerance for my lameness. Seeing as it's 2012, I'm pretty sure there will be plenty more ridiculous comments going forward regarding the demise of Earth in our near future. I just can't resist the urge, even though I know I might lose followers as a result of this. 1. Because they believe in the 2012 apocalypse and will get offended at my lack of respect for the issue OR 2. They can't read one more second of my cheap puns. Seeing as I only have two followers, unfortunately this could also result in the end of Coffee with Coffee. That's okay though... we only had about 11 months left for all of this any way.

On to the good stuff - a lot has happened since we last chatted! The Lara family came to visit us, which gave us some much needed family time. Lucky for them, we kept plenty busy with the Excel spreadsheet itinerary I created. We visited San Francisco, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Mystery Spot, Christmas Lights in the Park, and back to San Fran. During all of this, we also had our Christmas celebration and caught up on reality TV. Oh... and Melanie and I snuck out one evening to go to the wineries and brewery in town. Mwahaha. ;) You never know what might happen if you take your eyes off us.

The holidays arrived soon after our family departed. Chris and I decided to stay in CA for the holidays since we took so much time off for Europe just a couple months ago. We had some time off work together though, and we had a blast! We did plenty of shopping, eating, drinking, present opening, movie watching, and working out. Our Christmas Eve highlight was getting my grandparents to Skype with us. If you know my grandparents, enough said. If not, I'd have to write an entire blog solely dedicated to this topic to do it justice. The fact that the webcam kept slowly falling to focus on the floor which caused my grandma to lay down in her chair so we could see her made it priceless though. Based on their Skype skills, I'm willing to gamble that they don't read this blog and won't be offended. Did I mention that I found $20 in the street??? TWICE!! I'm one lucky gal, I know.

We're looking forward to January now! We're going to visit my brother in Utah this upcoming weekend, and my mom and dad are coming out later in January. It should provide some great blogging material. :) Oh, and while doing a little online shopping today, I did find an interesting product that I've included the link for below. Hopefully this will appease the readers falling into group 1 I mentioned when we got started. Heck, group 2 just might like it (for very different reasons) too.

http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Zombie-Apocalypse-Survival-Kit/lm/R28XMOLHVJAYPF

 At Pier 39 riding the carousel!

 Ice Skating Rink

Dead Fish Face! Not sure what learned atthe aquarium...

 Merry Christmas!

 This is what happens when I get bored...

 and I convinced her to go with me to walk the dog around the city with these.

We wore this crew out!

3 Weekends, 2 People, 1 Story

The blogging has been delayed, and for that I apologize. Trust me... I've heard plenty of reader complaints from my sister. I owe a few weekend updates, so we better get started!

Two weekends ago was a trip up to the city! We woke up super early on Saturday to take the BART into San Fran. It's honestly strange how much I love the BART. (And pretty embarassing that I'll admit it publicly.) Once in the city, we headed to a shelter to volunteer. We prepared and served brunch to the residents of the shelter which was incredible. The chef of the kitchen was the nicest lady ever, and having the chance to meet the residents was so inspirational. Giving back is such a blessing and a nice reminder to be thankful for all you have. After filling our hearts with love, it was time to fill our tummy's with some delicous food. We ate at this scrumptious Thai restaurant with the plan to brave the outdoor ice skating rink afterward. While we did go to the ice skating, we never actually got on it. After observing the skaters for a bit, we both quickly remembered the things that make ice skating not as romantic in reality as it is in movies. People watching was good enough for us, and after a while we headed back toward home for wine tasting in Saratoga. It was our first time visiting the little down town area, and it was a blast. The town is so charming and the people were fantastic!

Last weekend was Christmas in Los Gatos! Friday night was the annual tree lighting festival in the square. Unfortunately, I didn't get out of the office in time to make it. Ooops. It was okay though, because Saturday continued the festivities! We woke up early and went on a long run and headed straight to the Christmas Parade afterward. It was the biggest small-town parade I've ever seen. The town was completely packed, and the parade lasted 2.5 hours. Seriously... it was crazy. Luckily we live down town and didn't have to fight traffic! Afterward, we rested up for a date that night. It consisted of a little Christmas shopping, drinks at our favorite bar and dinner at a restaurant we've been wanting try. It was Italian food and YUM! Sunday we tortured ourselves by watching the Cowboys lose due to icing their own kicker. The bright side? The 49ers clinched their division at the same time, so we got free drinks at the bar. Woo hoo??

This week was a blast. Thursday was the holiday party at my office, and then we went to the Sharks vs. Stars game that night. Unfortunately, the Stars got their butt's kicked. It was still fun, and we ended up sitting in the same section and same row as some of our friends. Totally random... and awesome! To top it off, I won the game Chris and I had to see who could find another Stars fan first. Victory is sweet, my friends. The rest of the weekend was pretty low key. We finished up Christmas shopping, caught up on some movies, and Sunday morning visited the farmer's market which always makes for a good (snack) time.

What we're REALLY excited about is next Saturday! The Lara family makes their arrival for four days, and we can hardly wait. We have big plans, and it will be so nice to have family around. T-5 days!

The view on our Saturday morning run. Nice.

Chris washing them dishes like a champ!

Making brownies. Don't be jelly of my hair net...

Ice Viewing

Go Stars!!!

Living the Wildlife

I thought y'all might have needed time to recover from Chris's blog, so last week I skipped the update. Hopefully, you're ready for more now. Rest assured... I'll be taking the reigns from here on out.

So, there are a couple weekends worth of stories to share. Weekend before last was pretty fantastic. We went to the the Ski and Snowboard Festival on Saturday. It was full of vendors, resorts, exhibits and free wine and  beer. Who can say no to that?! Plus, we got free and discounted lift tickets, hotel stays, etc. When we left, we thought it would be a great idea to check out one of the local casinos. San Jose has 2 casinos that existed before any gambling laws, so they've been able to stick around. While I will definitely chalk it up as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I'm not sure we'll be going back any time soon. S-K-E-T-C-H-Y. The other descriptors I would use are mostly inappropriate, so we'll leave it at that. Sunday was for football and chores. See... our life isn't all glamour, people.

This past weekend was awesome! Friday night I walked around Los Gatos and did a little shopping. The holidays are arriving in full force, and it's so beautiful here. I'll post pics of the town soon. It definitely put me in the spirit. (Except that one store, which I'll leave nameless to protect its identity, was passing out drinks to everyone who was shopping.... except me! I couldn't get a Schnaup's shot if my life depended on it. Chris insists it's because I look like an 18 year old, which I hate to hear. Bah humbug.) The weather has been back and forth between perfect autumn days and rain. Luckily, Saturday was one of the perfect sort because we had outdoor plans! We woke up early to head to Monterey Bay. We were going WHALE WATCHING! We had coffee on the Fisherman's Wharf and then went on a three hour boat ride. We saw dolphins and humpback whales and met a little boy that was more entertaining than either of the previous. The captain made the mistake of saying the whales were three miles away at one point, so he kept shouting, "Has it been three miles yet?!" That was all before he told us that he used to know how to "speak whale". Unfortunate when people forget their native tongue as they get older, right? He also spotted Spongebob, Dora and Nemo among the other wildlife. Good eyes!

Sunday we went to our favorite bar for bloody marys and football. I mean, there are limited options when football starts at 10 a.m. and you don't get the game at home. Tough decision? I think not. Afterward, we did a little shopping in town until we got the idea to go wine tasting. The pictures below don't do the views justice, but we tried! We went to two new wineries up in the mountains. They are only about 4 miles away, but the winding roads make it seem like 30. We bought a case of wine at the first stop, so we're stocked up for a while now. I rationalized that we "needed" to buy it because it was on sale and it would save us money on our grocery bill. Hmmm... I'm rather surprised I got Chris to agree to that logic, because I'm still not sure I really do. Hopefully he doesn't read this. Odds are in my favor. So, you're all invited over for a glass (or two) of wine. We have plenty. :)

This is a short week, and we're super excited about Thanksgiving. Our friends graciously offered to host us, and now the group has grown to 11 people total. It should be a fun day of food, friends and football at the Bastards' Thanksgiving Celebration. I plan to cook a schmorgesborg, so it will be a busy kitchen Wednesday and Thursday. Big plans on the books for next weekend, but no one likes a spoiler, so mum's the word for now. Next time!

 This is from the top of the mountain. Fog filling in the valleys.

 Entrance to our favorite winery!

 Fisherman's Warf

Whale spout!

WAAAASSSSAAAAKKKKEEEE!!!!!!

  Steph has been hounding and hounding me to write the blog this time. I'm definitely not a writer; that is Steph's job. You guys that know, she is very persistant(annoying)j/k.  I don't have the great and witty words that she has, but I will give it a shot.
 Steph and I had a delicious dinner Thursday with Michael, Michelle, Tom and Betty in San Francisco at Paliminos.  It was great to see some familiar faces. Hope y'all had fun! After dinner, we stayed with our friend in San Francisco, which was nice for me because I've been commuting to the city for work the last few months.  The whole time we were there, we were thinking that we need to move to the city ,so we'll see!

Friday night we had dinner at a new restaurant in Los Gatos. They had Irish nachos which we were excited about, but they could not compare to J. Gilligans.  We ended the night at our favorite bar in Los Gatos, Carry Nations, and  Steph spent the the majority of the night trying to be match-maker for one of our friends. Sorry Dude!  Its probably not going to work out.

 Saturday was Sake time at Takara! Takara brewery was very interesting. We watched a video on how sake is made and died laughing at the very dramatic music. Takara had a museum with all the tools the Japanese used. The best part was a flight of sake was only 5 bucks, and a bottle of sake is 8 dollars. We did not know that there were so many different types of sake.We both had a fun time in Berkley. Of course after a tour of Takara, we had to have sushi. Then, we ended our Saturday night at Bocce Ball with a couple we're good friends with.  It's even sweeter that us guys beat the ladies. Check out the pictures.

  Sunday we spent the day in Palo Alto. We visited Ikea to get new bedding stuff and then headed to the nice down town strip. We ate delicious gyros and then we drove around Stanford. The campus was amazing!

This was my first blog and probably my last.  I hope that I kept ya'll interested.

Tasting Room

Sake Museum

Cheers!

Let's take a ride.

Emotional rides, bike rides and car rides frame another weekend in paradise. It started as a night out with some of our new-ish friends here in Los Gatos: big plans to watch the Rangers win the World Series, eat delicious food, have a beer and catch up with good people. All of those came true except one. You know which one... Luckily, it was served up with all things good at least. Maybe 2012 will make the third time the charm for the ol' red and blue.  Until then, ride 'em Cowboys!! Oh yea, they're losing 34-7 as I type. Lots to look forward to! :)

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to go to Spin for the Cure. It was a two hour bike ride I signed Chris and me up for to raise money for breast cancer awareness. If you've never done Spin, this doesn't mean much to you. If you have, I graciously accept your pity. I did achieve the only goal I set - survive - so I'm pretty happy with the outcome. The icing on the cake was how amazing the experience was. They coordinated some of the songs with a survival theme, which was really moving. I might have held back tears during a couple of songs. Yowzah. After the ride of a life, we left with a heart full of love and clothes full of sweat. Well worth it, for sure. The rest of Saturday was comprised of eating, wine tasting, sleeping, shopping and movie watching. Talk about a Saturday worth living!!

Then there was Sunday, which definitely lived up to its predecessor. We headed out early to Monterrey for a car ride on the 17 Mile Scenic Drive. It goes from Monterrey, through Pebble Beach and comes out in Carmel by the Sea. Wow. It was some of the most beautiful sights I've seen (including natural sights, golf courses and ridiculous mansions). It was incredible. Lucky for you, there a few snap shots below to give you a hint. Chris and I had a blast. When we came out in Carmel, we toured through the town and had lunch at this super cute restaurant. The entire town looks like an old village of cottages, and there is a mixture of high end shops and unique boutiques. One of my favorite stops was The Cheese Shop (I feel obliged to stop here and confess that this was the second cheese shop of the weekend... They opened one right across the street from us in LG and we visited Saturday. This could be bad.) After a good time, we headed back to LG and the remainder of Sunday was pretty routine. I took Gunnar up to the dog park and hit the jackpot when a gay guy from the same gym we go to was also there. I was successful in striking up conversation, and I'm pretty sure we're going to be best friends by the next time I post. Score! Yes, I realize posting this in a public forum is risky and could potentially creep him out to the point of destroying our future together, but since only 7 people read the blog, I feel like rolling the dice. It's this kind of dirt that keeps you coming back, right?

On that note, this ride has come to end. See you next time!

 Monterrey Bay

 Rocky Point

 Golf Course by the Water

 The Famous Lone Cypress

 Pebble  Beach Golf Course

Why Chris almost wrecked the car

"I took some time out for life." - James L. Brooks

I know, I know... your Monday morning coffee just hasn't been the same without an update from the Coffee's. All our apologies - life got crazy awesome and we've been trying to tame it. Here's the quick synopsis since we last posted: I went to Kentucky for one of my best friend's weddings, we went on a 16 night vacation to Spain and Italy, we bought a brand new car, tried to catch up at work from our long absence, joined a gym, celebrated the William's new baby, and cheered on the fantastic Rangers and disappointing Cowboys. Let's just say September and two thirds of October have been a whirlwind. No complaints, except from our avid blog followers, of course. :)
Due to all of our recent activities, we haven't been exploring CA as much as we'd like. Our "to-see" list is long though, and we'll be getting back to it now that we're stationary for awhile. Therefore, we are currently planning a lot for the next few months; a trip to the 17 mile scenic drive, a visit to sketchy San Jose casinos, a fun-filled weekend when we get a visit from the Lara's in December, a secret Christmas trip that Chris is planning (we're not making it back to TX this year!), a visit to Utah to see my favorite brother and ring in 2012, and our first "real" visit back to TX for Chris's 30th birthday in March. It appears we don't know how to lay low very well...

More frequent updates are a promise and pictures from the last two months are a goal. Cheers!