Dicken's Faire with the Creviers!

I spoke too soon....

Olive decided to check out the tree tonight and went for a climb. She went a couple of feet up, just by the "trunk" of the tree (it's an artificial tree). She mostly just hung out and sat on the branches, and luckily didn't cause any damage to the ornaments. I'm hoping she gets uninterested over time, but we'll see.

Decking the Halls

We put our Christmas Tree up last night but waited until today to decorate. We wanted to see if little Olive was going to be a tree climber before we filled it with decorations. Luckily, she only seems mildly interested in the tree and hasn't shown any interest in scaling it, so we think we're safe (knock wood).

It's fun with decorate for the holiday with two new critters in our home.

We changed the location of the tree this year. It usually goes where Wallace's crate us, so we put the tree in the opposite corner. It looks great there!

Fun afternoon with Gina's Family

I had a great time, and ate a lot of yummy food with Gina, Mia and Kaila! It was great to be able to introduce them all to Olive, and for Mia and Kaila to meet Wallace. (Wallace and Gina are old pals.)

Dinner at Andy & Barry's House

We had a lovely evening at Andy & Barry's tonight. Wallace and Lola had a grand time playing together, and the humans got to enjoy Barry's exquisite meal.

LUZIA by Cirque du Soleil

LUZIA by Cirque du Soleil was simply amazing. It may be my most favorite Cirque show ever. (Big statement!)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them...

...here they are!! Right on my couch! :)

Blendtec Warranty Replacement

I bought my Blendtec from Costco in January, 2015. I absolutely love my Blentec, and use it for a lot of things including smoothies, hot chocolate, soup and Cappuccino Blasts. :)

A couple of weeks ago, Blane was over for dinner and I made hot chocolate in the Blendtec for dessert. We noticed a burning smell from the motor - not good. The hot chocolate also wasn't very hot. I looked it up online and found that the burning motor smell was a pretty serious issue that I should contact the company about.

I called them the next morning. Blendtec has an 8 year warranty and I was just less than two years into mine. They offered me two different options.

Option 1:
Send my Blentec base back, and they would repair it. I think it would take 6-8 weeks. Don't quote me on that. I didn't take this option, so I don't remember exactly, but it was pretty long.

Option 2:
Return my Blentec base, and once they received it, they would send me a new but refurbished base within 2-3 weeks (or something like that).

I use my Blendtec a reasonable amount and didn't want to be without it for too long, so I took option 2.

They sent me a prepaid UPS label and I sent it to them that same day. I received a new (refurbished) base and a brand new jar within two weeks exactly. Not bad!

The model I received from them is the newer model. I originally had the Classic 570 model from Costco. They sent me the 575. There are slight variations between the two.

The UI is slightly different. I loved the "hot" button on the Classic 570 model. That's the one I used for hot chocolate and soup. The 575 model doesn't have that. Instead it has a 90 second button that I read is the same thing as the hot button. It offers a few more variations of speed, which is nice, and also has a "clean" button.

The jar seems the same as my original, but the lid is different, and I think, better. It has a much more secure fit, and the way the edges of the lid fit onto the jar enables it to be better/cleaner when putting it off and on after using. My old lid used to drip a little when I took it off, and especially when I put it back on after using it.

I just used my new Blentec for the first time today. I made some hot chocolate. I used to press the "hot" button twice to make the hot chocolate hot enough. On this model, I had to hit the "90 second" button three times. Even at that, the hot chocolate isn't piping hot, but I nice temperature. I may do it longer next time, but that's fine.

One last thing, my original warranty of 8 years after the initial purchase date still holds for this new refurbished model, so it's still under warranty for another 6+ years. Not bad.

I'm very impressed with the customer service at Blentec and the ease at which I was able to get a replacement. Still love my Blendtec!

Visiting Grandma

Grandma Chow had a fall last week at home. She is mostly okay, but needs to stay at a rehabilitation facility to build up her strength. My sister and I went to visit her with our cousin Bruce today.

House of Cuteness!!!

We can't get over the cuteness of Wallace and Olive playing together and just hanging out together. We're so thrilled with how comfortable they are with each other already. They've started to play together - running around the house, chasing each other, or Olive starting to pounce on Wallace. They are so fun to watch. :)

2016 Immediate Impact Walk Thank You Party

Today we had our annual "Thank You" Party for the Immediate Impact Walk. I was really thrilled to be there this year, as I had been in Seattle for the last three years and couldn't make it.

We had the party at the glassybaby store on Union Street. As I mentioned on another post, In Our Lifetime was selected as the partner for glassybaby's Union Street Store this year, and 10% of all sales that they make for the month of December will go to our non-profit!

It was a really nice gathering. We presented the checks to the beneficiaries, which was a really nice thing to see. We had light nibbles and drinks, fun conversation and everyone did some glassybaby shopping.

So proud that we gave away $65,000 this year. This year's fundraising brought us to raising over $500,000 in just five years!!


Some of the walkers and supporters who came to the party today


The checks for our beneficiaries!


Representatives from "Friend to Friend"


Representatives from Charlotte Maxwell


Representatives from Breast Cancer Emergency Fund


Judy and Heather


Hillary, Linda and Charisse celebrating with drinks


the pretty glassybaby store on Union Stret

Wallace meets Santa Paws!!!

Wallace met "Santa Paws" at the San Francisco SPCA this morning! Uncle Blane came with us, and we had a great time.

Wallace wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the big guy wearing the red suit, but we got some fun photos from it and are always happy to support the SPCA.


Wallace meets Santa Paws for the first time!


Wallace is not sure how he feels about the big guy in the red suit


Fun family photo


Everything is more fun with Uncle Blane!

Current Status

I'm just so happy with how quickly Wallace and Olive took to each other.

They started to chase each other around the house this morning. 🐶😺

glassybaby partner for December!

The glassybay store on Union Street in San Francisco has selected In Our Lifetime (the non-profit which supports the Immediate Impact Walk) to partner with during the entire month of December! That means that 10% of all glassybaby sales (those which are not already affiliated with other non-profits) will be going to In Our Lifetime! The funds from this partnership will be going toawrds In Our Lifetime's new "Shoulder-to-Shoulder - the Marcia Peterson Memorial Fund", which will be focusing on women under 50 with metastatic breast cancer.

I will be hosting a glassybaby event in my house in San Francisco on December 17th. I hope you'll be able to join me. I haven't had an in-house event in a few years, but the previous ones have been really special. We will have hundreds of glassybaby available to purchase and decorating my home. I'll have light bites and refreshments to enjoy while you shop.

Unable to make it to my party, or go to glassybaby's Union Street store in the month of December but still want to support In Our Lifetime? You can easily place your order over phone - anytime Dec 1st through the 31st - to ensure we get credit for each sale. Phone: 415-423-3694. Shipping is always free!

Afternoon Smiles

I just love this happy little guy.

World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day. As I walked down Castro Street this morning, I watched as kids from our local elementary school wrote the names of some of of those that we've lost with colorful chalk in the sidewalk. I loved watching these kids (4th-6th graders) create art while learning about this important and on going history in our neighborhood, and in our World. I also spoke with two members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence who spoke with the students this morning before they started on today's project. Such a beautiful way to remember the countless loved ones that we have all lost. ❤️