New 52 | Week 13: Poncho Sanchez at Anthology

Todd is a big fan of latin jazz music, and through him, it has grown on me a lot too.  So when he found out that Poncho Sanchez, the Grammy-winning latin jazz percussionist, was coming to Anthology in San Diego to play a concert, he quickly got tickets.  We had heard so much about Anthology too.  It is located in San Diego's Little Italy area and it's a combination of concert hall and restaurant.  You get to eat good food while watching/listening to a great concert!  Now that's my kind of place!  :)

So on Thursday, 3/24, we worked from home, ate a small early dinner, and headed down to Anthology.  There was plenty of free street parking because it was after 6pm, which was really nice.  We were able to park right near the back entrance to Anthology.  We got there right before the concert started.  The only picture I got of the place was a quick photo of the front, right before we went in.



We had never been there before, so we didn't know what to expect. The inside was really nice! We got the cheap seats so we didn't have a direct view of the stage, but they had flat screen monitors every few feet so you still got to see everything. If you paid more for better view tickets, then you would also have to spend at least $15/person on food/drinks. We did end up ordering some fried calamari and a Coke though. The food there is really good!

From our little round bar table and seats, we got to enjoy great latin jazz music. I loved the energy and the rhythm! I love that this concert venue/restaurant's main crowd are adults. It really makes for a nice evening of dinner and music out. Some people got up to dance and it was fun to see people getting into the music. Anthology was a lot nicer than we had imagined.

While there, we found out that Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is playing there in April. So as soon as we got home, Todd got online and ordered tickets. Next time we'll be sitting in the nicer seats! :D

After the concert, we walked two blocks down to Extraordinary Desserts. This is a really famous dessert place that we went to six years ago and haven't gone back since then. Not because we don't love the desserts there, but it's always VERY crowded with a long wait! Last Thursday was no exception. At 9pm, it was packed and the wait for a table for two was 30 minutes. So what did we do? We got in line for dessert take-out!

While in line, we checked out all the goodies behind the counter. Everything looked SO good!










We ended up sharing a piece of Truffe Framboise, which I now think I did not take a photo of! The menu description: Fresh raspberries and kirsch moistened chocolate cake layers are surrounded by bittersweet Valrhona chocolate mousse, with fresh raspberries bursting inside and out. The quintessential marriage of chocolate and raspberries! And it really was one of the most delicious chocolate truffle cakes I've EVER had!

Poncho Sanchez at Anthology was definitely a night to remember! The "icing on the cake" was going to Extraordinary Desserts afterwards. We loved the experience so much that we're ready to go again next month to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

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About This Project

New52 is a project started by Peppermint and I to encourage each other and others around us to try something new every week in 2011. The "new" each week doesn't have to be something big. It could be something as simple as ordering a new dish instead of old standbys at your favorite restaurant. It's simply opening your heart up to NEW possibilities.

Don't worry if you're late getting started on joining in. It's totally OK if you miss a week here or there. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind about trying something new. This is a life project, and a photography/blog and even scrap challenge if you wish. If you participate this week, please leave a link to your blog post in the link list below. You can also post images to our New 52 Flickr Group! We would love to see what you were inspired to do.   

Sneak Peek: Just The Way You Are + Chance To Win

Hello Monday! I've had quite a busy weekend getting all my ducks in a row. :)

I'm finally ready to make the announcement of where you can find my designs come April 1st!



I'm so excited to let you know that my digital designs will be available April 1st at Mscraps AND Digital Dandelions! Mscraps stands for Memory Scraps and is a store started by Joyce Paul a little over a year ago. Digital Dandelions is a brand-new store started by Leora Sanford and her brother and sister-in-law. It will be opening on April 1st!  Both stores are full of amazing and inspiring artists and I'm beyond honored to be joining them.  :)

Leora announced the Digital Dandelions artists yesterday on the Digital Dandelions Facebook fan page.

See the bottom row? That's me!

I have some new products coming out on April 1st called "Just The Way You Are". Here is a sneak peek at them.


The best part? You can enter for your chance to win this digital kit by leaving a comment below by Thursday, March 31st at 6pm PDT (3pm EDT). You can improve your odds of winning by posting about this giveaway on Twitter, on Facebook, or on your blog. Be sure to come back here and post links in the comments section (please post as a new comment each time) so every entry counts towards your chances to win.

*** contest now closed ***

I will pick a random winner and announce it on Friday, April 1st, along with the debut of Just The Way You Are!

Oh, and before I forget... Be sure to subscribe to my spiffy newsletter, because the April 1st edition will contain a limited time exclusive subscriber freebie that's an add-on to my new kit Just The Way You Are. Not yet a Listgirl Designs newsletter subscriber? You can subscribe here!

Books, Running, and Cutest Cat Ever

Of course everyone who has a cat says this... but my cat is the cutest one!  EVER!

Yesterday morning he was an intent bird-watcher.

He saw and heard birds outside, and I saw him move his jaws and make that clicking sound that cats make when they're super-excited to see critters!

Yes, little birdies, come to papa!


On Friday we got the sad email that our local Borders bookstore closest to us is closing its doors and having a sale. We've had so many good memories there. We discovered our first favorite local musicians (Jason and Jane) there. We spent many Friday nights in the Borders cafe, reading magazines while sipping tea and sharing a piece of carrot cake. Todd even played several gigs with fellow musicians at Borders. We'll surely miss it. But we had several gift cards that we still needed to use, so we went on Saturday morning to check things out. The store was PACKED! The cafe is already closed. :( We found some items that were on our wishlist, and got into the long line to check out. With the sale, and using up all our gift cards, we only spent $11 and change for all this loot.


I got a Stampington card magazine that normally costs $15, but all magazines are 40% off list price right now.  I also got TWO new journal books, and a 3-pack of little unlined Moleskine notebooks.  Todd got Scientific American, plus five Robin Hobb books, one of his favorite fantasy/sci-fi authors. 

But Christine, you say, what about running? You did eat Kentucky Fried Chicken on Friday night, and I haven't seen you blog about running in a while. What gives? Why yes, it's true that I hadn't been running in THREE weeks! Between the sinus infection headache and then traveling to San Francisco, and being super-busy with my full-time job plus creating new digital scrapbooking products for my two new stores opening on April 1st, I haven't exercised much. :-| So after Borders bookstore, we headed out to the coast of Cardiff and ran our usual favorite route. The weather was gorgeous but a little windy.







After running, we had brunch at Beach City Cafe. I scarfed down the Son Of A Beach sandwich, so no photos. :D

In the afternoon, I worked hard on loading my products into my new digi stores, while my ever-so-helpful husband did the laundry, vacuumed the whole house, washed both cars, cleaned cat litter, cleaned all the toilets, and cooked dinner. Yes, I agree with you, I am the dead weight in the relationship and I totally don't deserve him. He is a total gem and I know it!

After working on the digi stuff for hours, I went upstairs and found this scene on my bed. It was too cute for words, so I ran downstairs and got my camera and snapped away.


Did I already tell you that Noodle loves to cuddle? He's the perfect cat, I tell you!


Perfect. Cuteness. They should really just give him his own prime time show on Animal Planet.


Today I have bills to pay, taxes to do, and we're planning to steam-clean our carpet for the whole house. Lots to do, so little time. Todd is on a 35-mile bike ride at the coast, training for his 66-mile bike race in May. I went to Panera to redeem my FREE pastry and chai latte!

I love the MyPanera Club card. We don't even go to Panera that often, but each time you buy something, you earn points and very soon, you get free stuff! We've only had the card for a few months, and so far we've gotten 3 free pastries and 2 free drinks. Like I said, we don't go that often, so it's almost like every 4th time you go, you get something for free. I really like this reward program.

Now that I'm fueled up for the rest of the day, I'm going to go and get things done! Come back tomorrow for exciting announcements, a sneak peek, and a chance to win my new digi-product!

Kentucky Fried Chicken Karma

For those of you following the NCAA Basketball Tournament, you know that Ohio State played Kentucky on Friday night.  In honor of the occasion, Todd and I decided to get take-out Kentucky Fried Chicken to eat while watching the game.  We had some homemade spinach to offset the chicken, but the chicken really was the main event.


Yes, it's been a while since there's been a "Todd Shot" on the blog, hasn't it?

Upon smelling the fried chicken, Noodle wouldn't leave us alone. So I pulled a little bit of chicken meat off and gave it to him. He begged for more. I really can't have a cat hooked on Kentucky Fried Chicken. It just ain't right.

It turned out that it was bad KENTUCKY fried chicken karma, because Ohio State (the overall #1 seed in the whole tournament, mind you) lost to Kentucky in the last seconds of the game. That was so sad! I would gladly regurgitate the fried chicken if that would have given Ohio State the win.  Bad chicken karma!

New 52 | Week 12: Steel Magnolias

This week's new experience was a birthday gift from my mother-in-law Sylvia. She gave me two tickets to see Steel Magnolias at the Lamb's Players Theatre in Coronado. So last Friday night, Todd and I drove down to Coronado to have dinner and to enjoy the show.


Gotta love daylight savings time. We went after work and it wasn't dark yet! Crossing over the Coronado Bridge and looking back at San Diego.


Once on Orange Avenue in Coronado, we looked for a place to eat but eventually went to one of our favorites, Burger Lounge. It was very crowded but we were lucky to find some seats. We shared a big salad and small fries, and we each had a mini-burger. Forgot to take photos of them. :(

After dinner we walked over to the Lamb's Players Theatre to see the show.




Here we are, in our seats.


The whole play took place inside the beauty salon. The ensemble cast of women were awesome. I had never seen the movie before so I didn't know what happened at the end. It is sort of sad! I won't ruin it for you if you haven't seen the movie either.

I really enjoyed getting out to Coronado to see the play on a Friday night. I love experiential gifts and that's what Sylvia gave me!

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About This Project

New52 is a project started by Peppermint and I to encourage each other and others around us to try something new every week in 2011. The "new" each week doesn't have to be something big. It could be something as simple as ordering a new dish instead of old standbys at your favorite restaurant. It's simply opening your heart up to NEW possibilities.

Don't worry if you're late getting started on joining in. It's totally OK if you miss a week here or there. We encourage everyone to keep an open mind about trying something new. This is a life project, and a photography/blog and even scrap challenge if you wish. If you participate this week, please leave a link to your blog post in the link list below. You can also post images to our New 52 Flickr Group! We would love to see what you were inspired to do.  

My Annual Birthday Dinner

Last year I started a tradition of inviting my friends to my birthday dinner celebration, my treat. We couldn't do it on my birthday weekend last weekend because we were in San Francisco for my cousin's movie premiere, so we had my birthday dinner this past Sunday at Jasmine Restaurant. All my invited friends came except for Anne and Gilbert, because Anne had a previous engagement, and Sally had to back out the last minute because she got sick. She was totally bummed!

Our friend AJ and his son Andon, then Monika, then me.


Dejah and Roby, Meera and baby Keiji, and then me in the corner.


I love Chinese-style lobster stir-fried with ginger and scallions! We got a 2.5 pounder.


Chicken corn egg-drop soup.


Cod filet with vegetables.


Pepper steak with walnut shrimp in the back.


Fried oysters


String beans with pork.


Mustard greens.


We also ordered chicken lo mein, because it's Chinese tradition to have noodles for your birthday. Long noodles signify long life. But I was too busy eating to take a photo of it. Also missing photos is the sweet red bean soup at the end.

Dinner was fantastic! I was so excited to eat, LOL. No Weight Watchers for me on Sunday. We ate the big spread family-style, with a lazy susan in the middle of the table.


Todd brought a sampling of different dessert bars he got from Pannikin. All delicious!


I had lots of fun with my friends! This is definitely a tradition that I want to continue every year! :)







Oh, and Monika brought Domo to the dinner. Domo brought a gift for me. Isn't Domo nice?

Saturday Wine Tasting

Our friends Dejah and Roby invited us to go wine tasting on Saturday, partly as a belated birthday celebration for Dejah. So we ate some lunch at home and then headed to Vintage Wines to meet up with them, plus Sally.

The tasting for the day was all Pinot Noir wines. It's not my favorite but for $5, Todd and I shared a tasting, and getting together with friends is always fun!


Dejah and Roby brought some pate and bread


and Humboldt Fog cheese and crackers

Todd stayed away from both the pate and the cheese, LOL!

Sally enjoying some of the pinot noir.


Dejah and Roby also brought a red velvet bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes.




We sang happy birthday and Dejah blew out the wine cork shaped candle.


Nicole and Maria also showed up. Here we are, the whole gang!