another sunny day...

yesterday the temperature rose above freezing...into the 50's even! so pete and i celebrated by taking a nice walk around our neighborhood and into downtown.

this mural continues down the length of the tunnel (the train passes overhead) and repeats the same theme on the facing side as well.

patriotism, originally uploaded by tariann.

we explored the wooded area between the purina factory and the train tracks. there were many hobo encampments to be seen.

hobo road, originally uploaded by tariann.

purina factory up close

factory upclose + birds far away, originally uploaded by tariann.

and here we are downtown, reflected in the mirrored exterior of a building!

self pic in a dirty window, originally uploaded by tariann.

just wanted to post some x-mas break highlights

The following were all taken thursday, december 28 when pete and i had the pleasure of spending the day hanging out with nanny, aunty gina, maya and isabel. we had a nice sushi lunch in the inner sunset before exploring the conservatory of flowers in golden gate park.

nanny at lunch, originally uploaded by tariann.

aunty g and isabel, originally uploaded by tariann.

at the conservatory

flowers, originally uploaded by tariann.

cousins!, originally uploaded by tariann.

i don't know why maya looks in shock here

these were my favorite, originally uploaded by tariann.

creepy looking flowers

we didn't pick it..it had already fallen off, originally uploaded by tariann.

don't worry...we didn't pick this flower..it had already fallen off

the boys

the boys, originally uploaded by tariann.

Sleepy time for all the animals in the house

snow!

Pete got me out of bed early this morning to see the beautiful white blanket of snow on everything. Apparently the snow took everybody by surprise as it wasn't expected to hit this far north. There was less than an inch on the ground but schools were closed and there were tons of accidents (due mostly to iced over freeway on-ramps and overpasses, i think). Judging by the amount of cars still in our parking lot, a lot of people took the day off.
Here are some pictures I took from my balcony this morning.

It's been real cold lately

Our cats don't really interact with each other much besides the aggressive sniffing, pawing at each other, chasing each other around the apartment and wrestling...they certainly have never been into cuddling or sleeping together but the cold weather must have driven them to drastic measures because yesterday i opened the door to our storage closet to see the two of them curled up in the same space!

tommy and marvel in our messy closet

picture from Terese

Isn't it cute?

Pete and his family's kitty Noah Geniella in Hopland

happy MLK day and happy b-day Chiara!

Well I've been back in Texas for 2 weeks now and I've just now finished uploading all my x-mas pictures into flickr and putting away all our gifts. The house is clean and the kitties are napping and I'm just trying to stay warm. I should leave the house for a bit but it is just too cold for a Californian like myself (it's been in the 30's all week and there are icicles on my porch). I found some jobs I'm going to apply for so that and this blog should keep my busy on a cold day with no work to do.
I signed up for a beginning photo class at the University of Arlington so that should be good. Hopefully I'll meet some people and at least improve my photography skills a bit. I got this sweet camera for my birthday but my photo results have been less than stellar. I took loads of pictures x-mas eve at Nanny's but they all turned out super blurry. Sorry family, I didn't realize how dark it was inside and how unsteady my hands are. Good thing my hubby is such a good photographer...I'll have to bug him to send you all some of the beautiful pictures he took that night. Here are those of mine that came out ok (note they are mostly food pictures as food has a tendency to stay still.) :)

Nanny and Mavis

Jake and holiday greetings


Uncle Joey and the bar


the tree

Appetizers