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a monster sized flag in the centro, mexico city

bubbles during a book fair

street food we would like to eat but know we shouldn’t

Cooper I just returned from Mexico trip #1 of 3 in the next month. I hope my bowels can handle all the traveling. Hold on to yourself, this is kind of a long one:

Our time in Zihuatanjeo/Ixtapa was a bit of a roller coaster to say the least. It poured rain for the first two days and then was beautiful, hot, and humid the day of the wedding we were to shoot. Actually, I had a revelation that I didn’t mind the rain because it wasn’t really a vacation for us…it was work. And rain is good to keep me/us inside and working rather than on the beach or in the pool. Thank someone above that it cleared up for the wedding, is all I have to say.

Cooper and I then thought we had to leave on Sunday so we got all our gear together and took a cab to the airport only to realize that our flight was scheduled for Monday. I don’t know what we were thinking except that maybe our brains were smart enough long ago to think that maybe we needed a day to recover before spending all day traveling…stupid smart brains. So, we went standby on a flight to Mexico City (which was scheduled to be stop #1 of 3) to try and get a little of the flying out of the way. Again, stupid brains.

We should have just stayed in Zihuatanejo where there are beautiful beaches and nice people. Instead, we decided to take an adventure into the center of Mexico City and explore. We excited about the notion of taking the $0.20/person metro rather than a $16 cab ride and the metro there was actually a lot of fun…we saw women carrying bags of chicken feet, clowns, and lots of people selling stuff that I don’t think anyone would ever buy. Then we walked around the centro and enjoyed the book fair, a mexican denny’s, zara, churches, a walk in the park, hot fudge sundaes, you know…the usual. We thought it would be smart to head back pretty early because we didn’t want to be out late (knowing that Mexico City had a reputation), but stupid us.

As we were getting on a somewhat crowded metro train to go home, three guys teamed up and were super aggressive in pushing us on the train. I thought to myself, “Allison, they are very aggressive and the train isn’t that full. Something is weird.” Then they took off. Cooper checked his side pocket. All was ok. Cooper checked his back pocket and his wallet was gone. We rain off the train and Cooper tried to get the guys (who got on the train behind us) to give him his wallet, but it was a lost cause. It was of those “doh!” moments where you can’t shake off the recent events…they just keep replaying in your head and you think about what you should have done. Luckily, Cooper didn’t loose much, just dignity, all his credit cards and our cash (I had $2.00 on me). Of course, when you try to save a buck by taking public transportation you end up loosing 100 times as much. At least we didn’t get hurt in the process…it was just one of those weak moments and we have learned some good traveling tips for the future.

This is what it felt like when the shenanigans were happening:

The feeling of having your wallet stolen does this to your brain

The wallet situation was just another low after all the ups and downs on the trip. Then it went up again. As I was getting some Reese’s Pieces in Phoenix and talking to some tall Swedish guy about my Swedish mafia t-shirt (efficient but deadly)…Cooper got an e-mail that he was going to be featured on DailyCandy for their quarterly wedding guide! The little snippet about him is here. Amazing what a little free marketing can do. The next day he had about 6 or 7 times as many hits to his website and inquiry after inquiry after inquiry. However, this event resulted in lots of loss sleep for the guy. He didn’t go to bed until 3am or later each night in an attempt to answer e-mails/edit photos/put albums together. He is a machine. I would like to try and schedule an actual non working vacation for the guy, but I quite honestly don’t know if there is ever a weekend when we/he won’t have something we/he have/has to be doing. Holy moly.

All photos were taken by Cooper. I would love to claim them as my own, but I have to be an honest lass.

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An unrelated but great side note: one of my MaLu totes was featured on the At Whit’s End blog. I love her aprons…if only I cooked.

Three things to report:

1.) It is raining so hard in Zihuatanejo right now. Pouring.

2.) My sister found my buttocks on someone’s blog about obesity. Kind of funny. Yes my images are copyrighted, and no they didn’t get permission beforehand. At least it produces a little chuckle for me.

3.) If you need some reading material, try out my new blog for Design Public. Let me know what you think.

Sour Cream Coffee Bundt Cakes, Bake Off entry 2007

What does a day full of Nieman Marcus cookies, amazing low carb mini cheesecakes, pumpkin spice cookies, mocha brownies, butterscotch brownies and sour cream coffeecake do to your day? It makes you want to have salad for dessert. And that is just what I did. The day after my birthday which was full of a rice krispie treat tower and apple pie, we had our first ever Design Public bake off. It was one heck of a treat to welcome the holiday season with sweets galore, but boy did my teeth get fuzzy by the end of the day. I seriously craved vegetables for about 24-48 hours afterwards. And yes, I really did have a salad as my dessert that night. Even ask Cooper. 

See the outcome of the bake off 2007 on Flickr.

Here is the recipe to coffee cake bliss (the maple icing is a must):

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream
2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt For the streusel:
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optionalFor the glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons real maple syrupPreheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel side up, onto a serving plate. Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or spoon.
Recipe courtesy of the Food Network.

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Early Wednesday morning Cooper and I are off to Mexico for wedding #1 of three in the next couple of months. I feel tired just thinking about the flights.

I am a stubmbler…and it is addictive.

My newest addiction: this site, which lead to my addiction to this site, which lead to my addiction to this site, which lead to my addiction to this site. So deadly. I guess I am going to turn whiter than I already am now that I will probably never go outside and see the sun. Gosh.

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The past two weekends were a treat and a half. 1.) no weddings. 2.) great weather and outdoor activities 3.) lots of me time 4.) lots of shopping 5.) lots of food 6.) lots of baby play time and family.

Not too long ago I gave myself a gift to the salon and got my hair chopped. I realize now what sort of “politics” happen in salons. I have to admit that I have not been to a salon in about 2 years. Yes, I have cut my hair several times in those 2 years. Yes, I pratice good hygeine. But, a simple cut on my straight-arse hair isn’t too difficult and yet salons charge $65 or more for something that always comes out the same and takes maybe 25 minutes tops to cut and style. My solution to this wallet drain? Cooper. He does a might fine job of cutting my hair when needed and he is cheap (although when I had him attempt to give me layers it didn’t quite work as planned which wasn’t a problem, it eventually grows back). Anyhow, my stylist for the day did a very good job of pointing out that I hadn’t been to this salon in two years. To which I said, “Yes, that is correct” and thought LEAVE IT AT THAT! I saw that she had my client profile printed which listed all the products I had not purchased and all the cuts and styles I had not gone to her for. So far, I surely was not part of her “elite group,” that was for certain.  She proceeded to wash my hair and rushed through any sort of scalp massage, then cut and barely styled faster than the speed of light. I was suckered into buying an overpriced product, and was whisked out the door. I know a lot of people have their “go-to” stylists and feel an allegience to one person. The upside to this is that they (hopefully) eventually know what you like and what works for your hair/skin/face, but the downside is you feel trapped into going to them forever. Others, like myself, don’t have one consistent person so we become nobodies to stylists and get essentially get the scraps in service. I am not sure which situation is better. All I know is that I cannot blow another $100 in the next couple of months. There are more important needs for that money!

Speaking of spending money, and buying things… in addition to my “transformative salon experience” I also finally found a pair of boots which I have been on the woman hunt for for nearly two years or more years now. I can’t tell you how many boots I have tried on that didn’t work for my little calves. Although I was looking for something a bit more cowboy-ish I am completely in love with my find and can’t wear them enough. My new love:

A series of unfortunate events….  

***Warning***The following photos are so cute they may lead to pregnancy (not for me, for you).

This past weekend was “Girls Gone Wild 2007.” My mom, sister, 18 month old niece, two female golden retrievers and I lived it up in Boulder and yes, we were wild. There was pole dancing, topless cruising, crazy nights in the hot tub, and drinking in the afternoon. Well, sort of… Amelia (18 months) did “ring around the rosie” on a pole in a restaurant, we went for a jaunt in a new convertible with the top down, Amelia took a bath (while eating ice cream), and we shared one passionfruit/mango beer at noon between three lightweight ladies.

Of course, the only record I have of our Girls Gone Wild Adventure involve Amelia…

Thai iced tea with tapioca

What does a girl do when she goes shopping and then gets to the parking lot and decides that she needs to save her money so she goes back into the store to return a few items? She rewards herself with a bubble tea. Not only did I return some unnecessary items, but I sold a great pile of used books to a local bookstore. In a way, I almost came out ahead. While drinking my sweet bubble tea and chewing on the gelatinous tapioca, I realized how cool the oranges and blues were together. I loved the orange of the cup with the orange-ish drink with the orange straw, complemented by the baby blues. So, I said, “Assi, don’t chug it down…take a photo!” And that is what I did. And here is the photo. I LOVE THIS PHOTO! I never imagined that a boba drink could look so dramatic or sharp. Oh, the wonders of photography.

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I will probably talk a little more about this later, but lately at work I have been doing a lot of posting on some social networking and shopping sites. If anyone is a fan of kaboodle or thisnext, or stylehive or flickr or wists.com…look up Design Public and see what I have posted! Comments are always appreciated especially if you see something you really enjoy.

W. Buckland visit

Yes, Wade. You knew it was going to happen. Your photo is on my blog. You may be mad or you may be embarrassed, but I think you will get over it. I am sorry for cropping myself out of the photo…I looked like crap. You, on the other hand, look fantastic and having me in the frame took away from your good looks. Thanks for stopping by for beerz and burritoz. We can’t wait to have you come back!

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My dad stopped through Oakland last Sunday before he had to drive back to SoCal. We had a very special father/daughter moment. We went out for brunch and had pumpkin pancakes and crepes, then headed back to my apartment to do the one thing I had been dying to do: watch the Raider/Bronco game together. I don’t know what my problem is this year, but I have really been into football. While Cooper edits photos of pretty ladies in bridal gowns, I am watching football, burping, eating chips, and drinking beer (not all the time, just on occasion). It was really a treat to get to watch the game with my papa because he is a football genius and knows how tall every player is, how much they weigh, when they were signed to play for each team, what their special skills are…and he calls an event before it happens. At one point during a commercial we were watching two other teams play and he said, “Watch this guy. He will receive the kickoff and run it all the way back.” And he did. It was a beautiful day outside and we could have been out walking or something, but the time spent watching the game with my dad is a moment I will remember forever. Thanks, papa.

Cooper taking a bubble bath

I decided that since Cooper now uses this as his main MySpace image, I am allowed to post my photo. Bubble baths are not a typical occurence in our little apartment. Only when we come home from 12 hours of non-stop and action packed shooting and our muscles ache like none other does Cooper feel the need to take a bath (because standing in the shower requires too much effort). You wouldn’t believe how hard wedding photography can be on your body! At the last wedding I had to sprint to the top of a hill during the ceremony to get a shot of the entire setting with the bride and groom at the alter and then sprint back down before they exchanged vows/rings/kiss, etc. This is exceptionally difficult when the ceremony is 10-15 minutes and I am wearing a dress and sandals and carrying a 15 lb camera. I am not complaining, just explaining. Anyhow, the day ended with a big little boy taking a bubble bath. It was such a funny scene that I had to take some photos. I love the simple color tones in this photo…they really make his face look sharp and crisp. I think it was my favorite photo of the day! (Just kidding, the wedding was very nice).

We have wedding number 5 for this month tomorrow. It has been one heck of a busy month, but soon we will have a minor lull before the 3 Mexico weddings hit us like a brick. Aye carumba!

p.s. Cooper was covered with bubbles so I didn’t see or take any pictures of anything other than his face. 

Well, Cooper and I finally did it. We had a semi-real dinner party.  It was semi-real because we had to eat off our coffee table since we don’t have a real table table, but real because the food that Cooper made (I did the dishes) was amazing, the company was fantastic, and the apartment was relatively clean. The meal was Thai inspired and interactive, beginning with “make your own spring rolls” followed by a pad thai demonstration while masaman curry bubbled in the background and mangoes and sticky rice sweetened with time. We all had to loosen our waistlines after the main course, but it was worth it. 

The monster pile of pad thai and masaman curry