39. My moment in time.
Cooling off!
May 16th, 2014 by alex
It has been boiling hot here this week. Los Gatos has this lovely little water fountain that is perfect for the girls to play in. Sienna loves to dive right in…
Dream Job!
May 13th, 2014 by alex
Today is a great day! I started consulting with newly renovated Los Gatos Theater. The theater is absolutely gorgeous, completely gutted and remodeled inside and out. The theater was going to be torn down and turned into commercial space, but a Sequoia Capital VC bought the building to keep the theater alive.
I’ll be working with the owner to build their special events program and help produce the events. The goal is to also have a film festival down the road. The best part is that I can work from home so I still have the flexibility to be with the girls. Eek, so excited!
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Congratulations. Great news.
Comment by Craig — May 15, 2014 @ 2:46 am
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Wow – Big congratulations. This will be a fun job
Comment by Edwin Relf — May 25, 2014 @ 7:46 pm
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What a charmed life you live!
Comment by GG — May 26, 2014 @ 10:34 am
Casa de Quikster
May 13th, 2014 by alex
All the new doors and windows are in and now the guys are getting going on the new siding. Its cool to see where there was once old doors and windows. Pretty amazing that these redwood boards are 100 years old and still going strong.
The lower deck is now done, we love the railing, apparently the new thing in deck railings. Surprisingly Sienna has actually slept for 2 hours amidst all the noise!
Mama’s Day
May 11th, 2014 by alex
Happy Mother Day to all the Mama’s out there! We took the girls down to Capitola and Page had a go at her second time surfing. The weather was amazing today. Its so awesome we are just 20 minutes away from some beautiful beaches. Sienna and I played with seaweed and tested the water while Brendan and Page took to the waves. Page caught a pretty big wave and had her first wipeout. She needed a break after that. After some burritos she wanted to head back out for some more waves. Afterwards we headed to Testarossa Winery for some Mother’s Day wine and snacks. Its been such a good day, so much to be grateful for!!
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Happy Mothers Day Alex
Comment by Craig — May 12, 2014 @ 4:01 am
L’artiste
May 10th, 2014 by brendan
Little Oak Art Day was a chance to see the work that Page has been doing through the year.
The highlight for us was seeing one of Page’s artworks framed and hanging in the office.
This year Page worked on Native American totem poles and dream catchers as well as the food-themed items shown in her classroom.
In the art room we also saw Page’s collaborative work inspired my The Masters and her inspirational art teacher, Miss Jenny.
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Congratulations Page. Beautiful work.
Comment by Craig — May 12, 2014 @ 4:04 am
Grumpy
May 4th, 2014 by alex
Page can be a bit challenging at a certain point in the day. Before she eats breakfast its hard for her to crack a smile. But she has certainly mastered the grumpy face. Oh boy, we are in for it…
A few minutes later, after she has had a few bites of food and she has warmed up… She said, “Mom, I’m just waiting at the bus stop for Nick, so he can take me to the dinner date. I’ll let him pick where we should go…”. I love her outfit of choice today, mandatory magic hat for the trip to the farmer’s market.
The house that Qwikster built
May 3rd, 2014 by alex
Yes, its true. This is the house that Qwikster built. We bought a very old home, 100 years old, in a mountain community outside of Los Gatos. Back in the day this area was reserved for city folks from San Francisco who wanted to rent a weekend cabin “in the mountains”. A few famous writers chose to call this place home, John Steinbeck owned land within walking distance. I don’t doubt for a second why he chose to call this place home. Its peaceful and wild and yet just minutes away from civilization. Huge, massive grizzly bears used to roam these hills. Now we have an occasional kitty cat and I am hoping we don’t see a big one anytime soon…
Stuff is happening. Solar panels are in. Windows are in, waiting on doors. Deck is started, waiting on wire mesh for the railing. Retaining wall is started, waiting on steps. Some plants are in. This next month we will see a lot of changes – fenced in garden area, siding, doors, 2 decks, new shed, more yardwork…
It’s all about deer resistant plants around here. We have already planted tons of lavender (ask me about sleeping in a lavender field in Provence) and rosemary. Here we have rose stone, sweet pea butterfly, and society garlic. Everything a deer dislikes. Some mornings we wake up to 8+ deer on our lawn… We also have some native grasses coming in and olive trees. Our veggie garden area is bigger than we thought, so excited to get that started.
Our lower deck is in. Redwood with soon to be cattle wire railing which has been hard to find.
New windows! We had very flimsy single paned windows before that made me nervous being the helicopter parent that I am. Now we are insulated and safe. A huge relief!
We picked out a pretty stone for our retaining walls and stairs. The walls are Camaroon blocks and the stairs will be Camaroon flagstone. Brendan liked the look of very little mortar and after seeing it, I love the natural look, too!
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It is taking shape. Looking good. I was trying think of a Steinbeck link but…
Comment by Grandma Anne — May 5, 2014 @ 5:46 am
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Qwikster being made ready for the next one hundred years. Can’t wait to see the finished product.
Comment by Craig — May 9, 2014 @ 1:53 pm
Happy Birthday SB!
May 1st, 2014 by alex
Brendan flew to Milwaukee for SB’s birthday. It was so nice to see him after 3 weeks away! It was a warmer spring day so we took a hike down to a beach on Lake Michigan. We had some sandwich’s (Sienna had a real sandwich) and played around in the sand, such a beautiful spot. Later that day we had a small Bday party for Sienna. I can’t believe she in ONE!
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What a lovely time was had. The face tells the story.
Comment by Grandma Anne — May 2, 2014 @ 3:21 pm
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Such happiness
Comment by Edwin Relf — May 25, 2014 @ 7:53 pm
Fun w/ cousins
May 1st, 2014 by alex
We made it to Milwaukee mid April to spend time w/ Grandpa Jim and to attend Page’s second cousin Megan’s Bat Mitzvah. We tried to spend lots of time with Megan and Sara. They are the sweetest girls and love playing with Page and Sienna. Sara is a bit of a baby whisperer, Sienna couldn’t get enough of her! We tried to have a picnic at the Audubon Center but it was toooo cold, so we went for a quick hike to the lookout tower and then back inside for some snacks. Milwaukee in April can still be freezing! 
Where’s the birthday girl?
Comment by Grandma Anne — May 24, 2014 @ 12:53 am