This is how the cookie crumbled in 2013

So it's that time of the year again. As the door closes it's door on the old year; another door opens to welcome the new year. Thus, it's time to take note of how the cookie crumbled this year for me.

First sake tasting ever (will probably not repeat since I'm not fond of sake.)

Read The Alchemist by Paul Coelho, Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan, the first 3 books of the Twilight Series

Seen with my own eyes the TERRACOTTA WARRIORS and THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING.

Spent anniversary weekend in Mendocino.

Camped with friends in Cabin 4 1/2 in the Sierras.

Visited Sequioa National Park.

Visited Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden.

Went for invitro fertilization (IVF) procedure in Mexico - was unsuccessful. Broke my heart and spirit.

Suffered from vertigo the first half of the year that almost disappeared in the second half - thank heavens!

Celebrated my birthday in Isla Mujeres, Mexico by touring the island and visiting the turtle sanctuary.

The Bay Bridge has a new eastern span.

First time to eat at an Indonesian restaurant.

Movies I've seen this year include: Oblivion, Taken 2, Solitary Man, Catching Fire, Before Midnight, White House Down, Gravity, Breaking Dawn 2, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Epic, Abduction, Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi, Magic Mike, The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey.

I'll try to reflect on the highlights and low lights of this year and create a post later on.

Happy New Year!!!!

Nope, This Isn't A Weekly Blog...

.....I just happen to be lazy.

And in a rut.

Don't ask me why. It might be the monotonous routine of 5-day work and 2-day errands/church. I need a little change of scenery so to speak.

One more reason I don't have time for blogging here is that I've been trying to keep up with all the season finales of the many shows that I follow. Sweetness, I didn't realize that I watch way too much television. Although let me tell you that my husband has been telling me that for years. He said we should find other things to occupy our time after dinner. He suggested listening to music while he reads the newspaper. Yap, we still have newspaper delivered to our house daily. Yes, we get most of our news online, but I suppose it's the tradition of the newspaper that we are keeping here, or else we're trying to singlehandedly keep the newspaper business alive.

Last night was a good example of how crazy our tv viewing schedule is: the teams we follow all were playing last night - the Giants, the Warriors and the Sharks. The Giants started and ended early; I completely ignored the Sharks. And I flipped back and forth between the Warriors and the finale of American Idol.

I taped THE BIG BANG THEORY and SCANDAL. Then watched them later last night, after the 11 PM news. That is the reason why I'm yawning and tired all day today.

If I'm not mistaken the only shows that have yet had their finales are PERSON OF INTEREST and THE GOOD WIFE.

Hopefully, after all these regular Fall Shows take a summer break, I too would break from tv viewing. I really need to have something to do after dinner and it shouldn't be blogging or facebooking either.

Tomorrow, Saturday, I'm looking forward to seeing the TERRACOTTA WARRIORS in San Fran at the Asian Art Museum. In case I don't get to go to China, I'd be able to see the terracotta warriors. Plus, they say here at the museum you could see them up close, whereas in China you could only see them from a distance.

Another event worth looking forward to is my wedding anniversary at the end of this month. We initially wanted to keep it open just in case we have to do this "thing" that we need to do; but this "thing" that we need to do has been pushed back to August, which leaves the dates free for us to do what we can do. And we can finally go spend a couple of nights in one of my favorite coastal towns - Mendocino. I cannot wait to go back there.

And I broke tradition this year. Hubs and I vowed never give gifts to each other on b/days, anniversary, Christmas, etc. In lieu of gifts, we agreed to go on a get-away or road trip that we both could enjoy the experience. But this year, I saw this little thing on Group-On that is hopefully an answer to his needs. And I couldn't keep my mouth shut I told him about this gift. He was a bit pissed because yes I broke the vow, but when I told him I could use it as well and that the price was a deal - of course he knows the price, just like me he monitors GROUP ON, TRAVELZOO, LIVING SOCIAL, et al daily.

So one more week then. I can't wait for this litle road trip to the North Coast. I need to breathe the invigorating ocean breeze.

Enjoy the weekend.

This is just me talking.

We are just into the 5th month of the year and I'm already on my second bout of colds. Yap. It's not going to be a fun year, will it? Last year I was thinking out loud how I've managed to be colds-free for a number of years consecutively. I remember the last time I was in bed nursing a cold and fever - flu - it was the year 2000, yes it was that long ago.

This year, I already stayed in bed because I was too sick to get up due to colds - sore throat, cough, body aches, low-grade temps, chest and head congestion. I refuse to lie in bed this time around. So here I am. But to be honest, I feel horrible.

Change of subject to a more cheerful one. Our weekend was fun. On Saturday my mother freed me from my duties to drive her around while she runs errands, which she does on a weekly basis. She also runs errands with my brothers, but I have to drive her when it's my turn, which is Saturday. But this particular Saturday, she was a little under the weather, arthritis is acting up and walking is a pain in the ass, so she decided to sit it out.

As it turned out, last weekend was the first weekend of the month, which is when Bank of America sponsors free museum days. We've been wanting to infuse some fine arts and culture into our life once again, so we hightailed it to the city on that beautiful warm sunny day.

My bad because I didn't jot down the addresses of the museums we planned on visiting (Legion of Honor and De Young Museum). So when I put search Legion of Honor in my GPS, it took us to city college Legion of Honor. Who knew there were two Legion of Honors in the city. Turned out that the complete name of the museum is California Palace of the Legion of Honor. Whew! That's one long name to enter into the GPS. But we managed to find it and also find a parking spot. Truthfully though, without the help of the GPS, we know where it is and we know how to go there, we just want to see if the GPS can find us a quicker way to get there.

By the time we were entering the museum, the fog has arrived and overtook the neighborhood. Gone is the sunny warm upper 70s just an hour ago. We took cursory look at the exhibits, but it was the same things we saw before and artworks didn't keep us there. I didn't even entertained the thought that I might be taking pictures for the sake of a blog post.

What I was aching to photograph was the newlyweds having their photo shoot by the portico. I really really wanted to photograph them, but well I exercised supreme restraint on my part. I don't want to be rude and ruin their moment.

From here we drove to the Golden Gate Park where the De Young Museum is located. However, the park is closed off on weekends in some areas for sole use of pedestrians and bikers and rollerbladers, which meant we were to walk about 15-20 minutes from start of the road closure to get to the park. It was a good walk, but the wind by now had picked up and it carried with it cool breeze. Thankfully, I always leave a little jean jacket in my car for such emergency. My husband wasn't thinking ahead as I was.

At the De Young Museum, we only had one thing in mind. While the general admission was free courtesy of BofA, the special exhibits were not and we did not flinch when we paid the admission to see THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING and other collections that belong to Mauritshuis, the museum at the Hague. The collection is here while their home museum is being renovated.

The entire collection is amazing. Rembrandt and his co-horts paintings were incredible, but the centerpiece of the collection is the one called the DUTCH MONA LISA. It's really well made, beautiful. As a shortie, I managed to squeeze in and stand in the very front staring at it, and being in awe of the beauty of the painting.

I have a problem with paintings in general. Why do I have to stand there, look at the painting and think what the artist was thinking when he painted it, or what he was conveying. I do not like that.

This is why I like photography. If you look at a photographer's shot, you stand there, look at it and make your own interpretation of the photograph. That is why I prefer photos over paintings.

I simply don't have time and knowledge of the arts to fully comprehend the artist's interpretation of the piece. Having said that I spotted a Salvador Dali - I believe it was at the Legion of Honor - that I truly enjoyed.

We were cold and hungry by the time we reached the car, despite walking for 15-20 minutes. Then we remembered the little bakery/café we stumbled upon a few months ago in Balboa - the Cinderella Bakery and Café. The suddenly cold weather was asking for a bowl of hearty and piping hot solianka.

Again, we don't exactly know where it is in Balboa or what the nearest cross street is, and we plugged it in the GPS, found ourselves driving towards the water. Who knew Balboa is such a long street. I think its from one end of SF to the other end, which is the water.

Anyhoo, we found it, parked a couple of blocks away and found the place packed with hungry patrons. It's a very small place. Two tables inside with a little barstool/bar on one side plus a few tables on the curb. People were definitely enjoying their pickeled eel salad, which I was tempted to buy, but at $10 a tub, I wasn't ready to shell out that money for something I might not like. Perhaps I should have asked for a taste.

Since it was packed and we didn't want to sit outside and freeze to death (although there weren't any seats available), we got our soup to go along with a cup of hot coffee and a slice of cake and a cabbage piroshki.

That was Saturday.

Sunday was for church as usual. Also it was our massage day. It was my first time to have a massage with a guy, always have a female masseuse, but it was no big deal. He was good and the pressure he put on his fingers was just fine, although I was sore the next day.

We capped Sunday with a hearty home-made Mexican dinner of grilled chicken tacos and grilled chicken huaraches. BTW on Saturday before we visited the museums we made a stop at the Alemany Farmer's Market for a little lunch which consisted of a huarache. That's where the inspiration was to make huarache at home. The dinner was not complete without a margarita. It was Cinco de Mayo afterall.