Date Night ideas in San Francisco

This weekend my husband and I will be celebrating our 12th anniversary not only that but on Saturday June 15th I will officially be 35 years old! It's my birthday! Which lead me to think about what would be the perfect way to celebrate in breezy San Francisco. We lived in the Bay Area for a little over a year and whenever we had out of town guests we would drive to San Fran and show them the town, each time I kept adding to my San Francisco Bucket List and now I've narrowed it down to 5 fun date night ideas.  ;)

It certainly wasn't easy, there are so many activities and places I'd like to enjoy a little more. Nonetheless here are some ideas:

1.- Ride a bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, bikes can be rented at Pier 41 in Fisherman's Wharf along with the helmets and the bikes have a map of Fisherman's Wharf all the way through Marin County for you to ride across to Sausalito and enjoy the scenery. I would then enjoy a picnic in Sausalito with the gorgeous view of the Bay bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island and the City. 

2.- Spend a night in Sausalito's Casa Madrona Hotel and Spa, the view from the room is spectacular! {at least that is what I noticed when I visited their site}. I would order room service to dine in the room's balcony while enjoying the sunset. Their spa also seems so relaxing. 

3.- Have a picnic at sunset at Marina Park which has a view of Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge, maybe some clam chowder soup and crab Louie salad from Alioto's? {Hey I can dream, right?}.

4.- Take a nighttime cruise along the Bay to see the City lights and float under the Golden Gate Bridge at night. I bet it looks spectacular! Of course I would do this sans kids and turn it into a date night. ;)

5.- Have dinner on any given Sunday in Little Italy, we've driven by and it looks so relaxing and different. The tables are setup on the sidewalk facing the street and every time we have driven by I think to myself maybe some day just a little dinner date :) it also looks so chic! 

I hope this is helpful for you and that someday we get to do at least one of these activities. For now we are going to enjoy celebrating being together through fun adventures. :D

What do you think of my list?

Would you add to this list? 

Freezer Meals!

I love being organized and prepared, maybe that is why I took a career path related to those two when I graduated from school -Logistics. Working with Logistics means you have to plan everything, always have a back up plan and be organized so you know what goes where and who. Now as a SAHM I try my best to keep our home organized, from our closets to meal plans. My friend Melissa Dell from "A bit of Everything" is great at organization and planning, she is also very business savvy and on top of things including being a working mother of a toddler and another one on the way! She is the owner of Bling Diva designs and is also great at financial organization. I hope you enjoy her ideas on preparing for having 2 under 2 with some delicious recipes. Melissa has also been a great friend lending all her support while we transition into our new life and home. Always cheering us on our adventures. She is very thoughtful and just like me likes hand-writing in different colors :D oh yeah! ;)

So without further ado, here is Melissa! 

Hi everyone! My name is Melissa and I blog over at Melissa Dell - a bit of everything. I'm a soon to be mom of 2 under 2 and write about our crazy family life, mixed in with some recipes and running a small business on the side. 

 I'm so excited for Maribel and her family, as they start off on a new adventure in Costa Rica and I'm glad I'm able to help her out with this easy recipe post while they're en route! Safe travels!!

One of the most searched items on Pinterest are recipes. I think because we all could use some inspiration in the kitchen, from time to time. As I'm approaching my due date, I have been thinking about what meals to prepare ahead of time, to freeze, so it can help take the guesswork out of dinner on the nights my brain is completely fried from sleep-deprivation, a newborn and an active toddler. 

With my first pregnancy, I was nervous about making meals to freeze - I wasn't sure what would hold up. I chickened out of most of the recipes I saved on my computer and kicked myself later because most would have been amazing! 

It takes a lot of work up front and one fabulous friend in the kitchen - Reynold's freezer paper. Haven't heard of it? Here's a photo:

   

 Freezer paper is a must have. I used a mix of wax paper the first time around, and plastic wrap. When I went to heat up my food, anything with a sauce became a muddled mess with bits of paper mixed in between. But this stuff is magic. With all my upcoming meals, everything will be lined with this (plastic side up) and it pops off the frozen items pretty easily before you reheat to enjoy. A roll will last forever. For my recipes this time around, I will be making the following. Mainly because it was a crowd favorite, but also because they stack & store so well in the freezer!

                                                                         Quiche

I've made so many varieties of this quiche and have never been disappointed. Well, that's not 100% true. Most times we're disappointed I don't make more than 2 to freeze and we eat them right away. You prepare everything and pour in the egg mixture, then pop in the freezer until you're ready to eat it at a later date.

                                                                Crockpot Lasagna

After the birth of our daughter, Aubrey, my mom made a gigantic lasagna. We learned that freezes REALLY well. We froze it in large bricks (each brick would feed my husband and me one meal and have a lunch leftover the next day) but I'm not into making traditional lasagnas. But this crockpot lasagna will do just the trick. I can make it, eat half, and store the other half. Or just make and freeze in 2 batches. Aubrey also loves this dish. Since you are freezing the lasagna once it has cooked, we found the best way to defrost this was put it in a large dish, cover with some plastic wrap, and set the microwave to "defrost" and check it periodically. You could also just take it out from the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge if you have enough time. But, I would always forget with a newborn and we needed to do it quicker.

I don't have any photos of these, but I will also be making these Lasagna Roll-ups for quick lunches. You prep the noodles, combine the meat/sauce mixture (or vegetarian if you like) and roll them up & pop in the freezer. When you are ready to defrost, I pulled one out in the morning (or 2) and they were ready to heat by lunch time. This was the dish I realized that wax paper is not freezer friendly.

I love the Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti - and this makes for excellent dinners too. I prepared the whole batch, and split into 2 9x11 tinfoil containers to freeze. You could also line your baking pan with freezer paper, then wrap up and store that way. (quick tip - if you place the whole pan with paper in the freezer for 30 minutes, it'll do a quick freeze to solidify the liquid ingredients, making it easier to handle when removing & folding up.

I would love it if you share with me your favorite freezer meals too! Feel free to tweet me, message me on facebook, or leave some comment love on my blog with your tips!

 

Welcome to Pura Vida!

Last Friday we had an adventurous day!  We flew to our new home. I have to admit both my husband and I were a bit worried about how the kids would deal with the packing of our home and then the traveling part. You see last week marked a milestone in our family, movers came to our home and packed everything into a moving truck to take to the port and ship to Costa Rica. We won't see any of those items for at least 4 weeks, so the kids had to choose enough toys, books and personal items that fit in a carry-on.  

We've taken several trips in the past in which we flew to our destination however all of them were less than a 2 hour flight each way and we weren't moving, it was just a vacation. In addition we did not have 10 suitcases to check-in as we did this time around. Nonetheless we were excited and happy with the plans. 

Our day began at 5 am when we got up and ready for our flight. By 5:45 am we were out the door and on our way to the airport. 

Check-in was surprisingly a breeze! With all our luggage, the kids, in addition to our last travel experience I thought it would be a tough one. Our 3 year old has matured so much in the past month I keep getting surprised with how patient he has started to be. Our 7 year old has also been matured in the sense that she is more helpful and this in all honesty makes life easier. 

Each child had a carry-on suitcase the kind that can also be used as backpacks, they were in charge of that and moving it from point A to point B. I had a full backpack with snacks, a change of clothes per child in addition to some reading material for me and my handbag. My husband had his backpack and after thinking about it for a long time we decided to take the carseat with us on board which he was in charge of. We choose to take the carseat for the toddler because it would make it more comfortable for him, he would be able to sleep on flight comfortably and he would be relaxed the whole time. Believe it helped so much, he was comfortable and felt secure, he took a short nap on the second flight.

We had a layover in Dallas, 2 hours between flights which allowed us to walk around and eat. Beautiful airport and larger than I had expected. This sign caught my attention, specially since the TVs around the terminal was showing a tornado alert for Oklahoma. I kept thinking about all the affected areas and hoping that they would be safe. 

Our travel went pretty good, the only little issue we had was the last 30 minutes of our flight from Dallas to Costa Rica. While landing both kids had pressure in their ears and our 3 year old couldn't stop crying. Everyone around us was very understanding and when we had finally landed and arrived at gate they shared stories about their children going through the same when they were younger. 

When we arrived in Costa Rica it was raining, it had been raining for a while and it was already dark. Did you know that they only have sunlight from 5 a.m. - 6 p.m., regardless of the season? I didn't. 

Getting our luggage was lots of fun, not only due to the amount but also because everything was at the same place! so you had not only 1 but 2 flights waiting for luggage and then we found out that there is a separate place to pickup odd shaped packages. In this place is where my MAC, stroller, carseat would be. I have to admit I was a bit panicky when I didn't see my computer arrive... Then I was told to try the other carrousel glad I did! :D

Clearing through Immigration and Customs was easy too, you fill out the forms onboard the plane and have them readily on hand for when you get off the plane. Every country has their own rules and laws just like the U.S. so it is always important to abide by the laws and respect them as you would in your own country. 

In a nutshell this was our travel day, we were finally settled into our hotel at around 10 p.m. and ordering room service so the kids could get their baths and relax before bedtime. All in all we feel it was an easy move and travel. 

Glad to be here and ready to begin our "Pura Vida" {Pure Life} lifestyle!