Sunday matinee and dinner with The Haynes and Megan

Today Megan, Matt, Abby and I went to the Sunday Matinee of Dave's play. The show on stage was very good. The show from the elderly audience was quite entertaining, bordering on annoying too. It is amazing how some of the elderly patrons felt the need to either a) make comments, b) ask questions or c) make obvious observations to clarify for themselves or someone next to them at full voice during the performance. " Who is that", " What is she holding", etc. Nope, not kidding. As Dave said, the four of us lowered the average age of the audience to approximately 78 years old. We all had a really fun time and I thought the actors all had very strong performances today. After the play, we headed back to Matt and Abby's to pick up their 6 month old son Evan, and then headed out to dinner at Barney's for some good ole burgers and fries in North Berkeley. It was a very fun afternoon and evening all around! Oh, and how incredibly cute is that kid!! Good job Matt and Abby!

Rebecca, Sam and Jim come to town!

This weekend Rebecca and her siblings, Sam and Jim, came up to San Francisco to celebrate Sam and Jim's 25th Birthdays. The plan.... eat, shop, and hang out, what else?!? I was lucky enough to tag along for several different outings. We started with a Thai dinner and ice cream at Maggie Mudd's on Thursday night.

On Friday Joyce, Jeff and Madeline came up to join us all here for dinner. It was a cold, rainy night, so we really enjoyed being inside next to the fire and dry. Dave, of course, was unable to join us as duty called for him to continue the run of his play.





On Saturday, Rebecca was up early and our brunch was already prepared as we walked out of our room. Even the coffee was already made thanks to the professional barista, Sam who works at Pete's coffee. As the San Diego kids took off for a day of brunching with their family and shopping around, Dave and I ran errands and tried to allow the star to rest and fight off the cold he currently has. FYI, for those fellow actors out there, if you find yourself stuffed up and sneezing, take the highest doses of antihistamines and decongestants possible and then drink a coke or two before a performance. I don't necessarily recommend this particular cocktail to everyone, but Dave has been a trouper and the show HAS gone on. As for me, I headed out Saturday night to meet up with Rebecca, Sam and Jim in China Town and then out to yummy Italian at Gaspere's.




Even though we were completely stuffed from dinner, we managed to rally and find the zippers to our dessert pockets as we headed for Maggie Mudd's to meet Becky Brown. Freezing cold and pouring rain never stopped us from craving ice cream.



Here is one last picture of Rebecca as she is heading to the airport. Wow, that is a lot of stuff Rebecca! Must have been a fun weekend. It certainly was for me!

Dave opens in "Wait Until Dark"

January 18th and 19th were exciting days as the play Dave is currently in, "Wait Until Dark" at the Altarena Playhouse in Alameda, opened to sold out audiences. We, being my Mom and Dad, our landlord Ray, Jillian, Greg, Mike, Michaela, Shane, Debbie and myself, had a wonderful time seeing the show on Saturday night. After the show, Dave seemed genuinely pleased to see everyone there and to accept the flowers my parents had gotten him. We went home after the show to celebrate with a cappucino cake and champagne.
To get more information and see a gallery of photos including Sgt Carlino (Dave's character) check out the altarena playhouse website.
http://www.altarena.org







While Mom and Dad were visiting, we had lots of fun running around and seeing people. We had dinner with Alyson and Shahien on Friday night for peruvian food. On Saturday we ventured down to have brunch with the Yungs in Burlingame. Afterwards, we visited their lovely new home in Hillsborough where we got the grand tour and a chance to play with Miss Madeline. On Sunday morning, we packed Mom and Dad up and headed to San Mateo to a new place (new to us anyway) called Gator's Neo-Soul Cafe for a southern/cajun brunch. We were in for quite a treat! The restaurant was wonderful and we throughly enjoyed eating a yummy brunch complete with alligator omelettes, fried catfish, grits and many other goodies including an insane Mississippi Mud french toast for dessert. While we dined, we enjoyed a wonderful jazz band. I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a fun and different brunch. We are looking forward to returning and trying dinner sometime. All in all it was a really fun weekend and a great visit from my parents.

New Year's Eve at the McEwen Pad

We had a really fun New Year's Eve with Debbie, Shane, Kevin, Megan, Melissa and Todd. We spent the evening snacking, playing a game and cheering in the New Year each hour starting with New York. Happy 2008 to all!

Christmas with the McEwens in Jacksonville

December 25-30th

On Christmas morning we boarded a plane to travel from Albuquerque. After a long and somewhat frustrating day of flying which included having to leave and return to Houston airport due a major fuel leak, we arrived safely in Jacksonville, FL. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner (thank you Charlene) and opened presents. We had a great time relaxing, seeing friends and spending time with Ken and Charlene. This time included a few games of HORSE, or as they play in Florida, GATOR. I have to admit it was not one of my finer days as I was beat by the boys. I am going to start practicing right now for next year!

We had several fun meals with friends.

We had a fun dinner with Pete, Kathy and their son, Jakob.

We had Sonny's BBQ with Ki and Tammy (yum).

We had a great dinner with Kellie, Michelle and Amy. It was a fun night as we went to a wine bar for a nice bottle and then on to PF Changs. A big congratulations to Kellie who got engaged on Christmas Day!!

We spent one day traveling down to Gainesville to visit the University of Florida. It was a very nice warm day and fun to wander around an empty campus.

Yup, that is a real gator in Lake Alice on campus.

Posing with Albert and Alberta

Visiting The Swamp

Dave's touchdown. Too bad Tim Tebow wasn't watching.

Christmas with the Robsons in Albuquerque

December 22-24, 2007
The first stop on our holiday travels was to visit my parents and grandmother in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is still such a thrill and joy to spend Christmas in New Mexico.
Christmas Eve was a busy and fun day. We opened presents with the family while sipping champage at the beautiful hotel we stayed at in Old Town. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

We then continued our fun day by heading to Maxine and Charles Hickox's house where we enjoyed a stellar Christmas dinner of enchiladas, tamales, posole caserole and many more treats. As is always tradition, we had the kids table. This year the table consisted of Jenn, Bryan, John, Dave and myself. The Robson and Hickox clans have been spending holidays together since John and I were 4, and our sisters 6 years old. It used to be that when you were at the kids table, we talked about how we each would eventually move up to the adult table. Now I have a sneaking suspecion that we will all happily remain at the kids table for as long as possible! It was a wonderful evening all the way around.

After dropping Grams off at her place of residence, the fun continued for Mom, Dad, Dave and me. For those not familiar with the traditions, New Mexico is always a magical place, but especially so at Christmas. I have included a link below regarding a bit about the tradition of luminarias or farolitos for those who are interested. Although I did not get to show Dave (my florida boy) what it is to have a white Christmas, he did get to experience walking around the candle lit fairyland of Old town Albuquerque late on Christmas eve, being bundled up from the cold while drinking hot chocolate. Truly magical!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminaria

Annual Holiday Dinner for Eight on December 15, 2007

This year was a busy holiday season. We kicked it off with the dinner for 8 annual holiday dinner. The last two years have been hosted at the Yung's. However, with their recent move, Dave and I stepped in and hosted at our house. It was a great evening and we really enjoyed spending time with Joyce, Jeff, Alyson, Shahien, Chris and Laurel. Besides, it gave us a chance to use many of the wonderful wedding presents we have received. I promise to add some fun pictures that Joyce took, but haven't gotten a chance to pick up a picture disk at Costco. Stay tuned for those images!