Mel and Jer

The personal family blog of Melissa and Jeremiah Wuenschel.

[melandjer]

Picnic at Point Isabel with Lieben and the dogs. It was a beautiful day.

[melandjer]

Happy New Year!! I think 2014 is going to be a pretty great year.

[melandjer]

A place to call our own

About six months ago we got a call from our management company. We had been happily renting out a house for three years. The management company wanted to come and take some pictures. It seems the owner was thinking of selling. We considered our options, and even though we thought we were still a few years away from being ready to buy, we quickly realized that we would be paying more for rent than we would for a mortgage. And so began our house hunt.

It wasn't easy. And it was a long journey. We probably looked at 30-40 houses. We put in almost a dozen offers. The worst one was when we were one of 39 other bidders and were outbid by over $300,000.  The market out here in California is so very different from what I have grown up with. The idea of paying more than asking price took a while to sink in. Add that on to the nerves of this being our first time through this and it was a rather daunting task. We had to take several breaks because we found ourselves bidding on houses we didn't want just because we thought "oh, we might actually win the bid!". It was like a gambling addiction. 

Through it all Jer's mom kept telling us "the house you want for the price you can afford is out there, and when it's right it will all work out."  And she was right. Somehow in this crazy California market we managed to get our dream home in the location that we had been wanting. 

So, without further delay, I present to you our new home...

(note: because the sellers are still in the house for another several weeks, these are all images from the real estate listing)

  The outside and back yard area - it has a garage and a large carport in front of the garage, perfect for entertaining rain or shine. The garage  (not pictured) has a workshop in it with tons of space for all our hobbies.

The living room and entryway

The dining room and kitchen. I cannot wait to start cooking in this new house.

The bedrooms and bathrooms - It has three bedrooms upstairs and 2.5 baths. There is also a small basement that is roughly the size of one of the bedrooms.

We are really looking forward to starting this new chapter of our lives. It was a long journey, and many times we thought about giving up, but I'm glad we didn't. This really is the perfect place for us. If all goes as planned, we should be able to move in before halloween so we will be able to pass out candy and meet our new neighbors. Life is good.

[melandjer]

My friend Manami has photography from her Nostalgic California series on display at Bellano Coffee for the next month. It's worth checking out.

[melandjer]

We put up our Xmas tree last night. Our friend Rohit came over to help. It was his first time ever decorating one. It's fun to share our special holidays an traditions with friends.

[melandjer]

Jeremiah's thanksgiving turkey.

[melandjer]

My mom came to visit just before Thanksgiving. We went to Yosemite and hugged a giant sequoia.

[melandjer]

Happy Diwali! We celebrated with my mom and our good friends, Ritu and Rohit.

[melandjer]

We went disc golfing with friends. I hadn't been in years and years. It was a lot of fun, and a good workout. The course was in the hills, so we did some hiking. The final hole is called "on top of the world", and you tee off from the top of the hill. It was a great day.

[melandjer]

Jeremiah is in India for work. Today Matthew and I took the dogs to the Los Gatos Creek Trail along the reservoirs. It was a beautiful day for a walk in the park.

[melandjer]

We went to the Musee Mechanique at Fisherman's Warf. It's free to go in, but the games/entertainment (some are puppets or moving pictures) cost $0.25 or $0.50. This is laughing sal, who greets all who enter. Some of our favorites were the fortune tellers, the song of the prairie, the moving pictures, the gun shooter, and who doesn't love a good funhouse mirror. Lots of fun.

[melandjer]

Tony and his girlfriend Jenn came to visit us for Labor Day weekend. We checked out SF, did some wine tasting in Napa, and introduced them to their first In-N-Out burger. It was a great weekend with good friends.

[melandjer]

Things to do in Napa/Sonoma

This is a collection of things to do and hidden gems in Napa and Sonoma. 

Cornerstone Gardens - http://www.cornerstonegardens.com/ 

Wineries in the Carneros Region - http://www.carneroswineries.org/ 

Wineries we can personally recommend:

Domain Carneros (excellent wine and bubbly, beautiful setting)

Domain Chandon (excellent bubbly, beautiful gardens)

Del Dotto Wine Caves (both locations are different but equally good)

Sterling Vineyards (ride the cable car to the top, then drink wine while on your self guided tour through the winery)

Castillo de Rosa (the wine was okay. the setting was amazing)

Places to Eat:

Mustards Grill

Brix

[melandjer]

Things to do in the SF Bay Area

I'm compiling a list of things to do in the Bay Area outside of San Francisco, which has it's own list.  There is also a separate list for Napa/Sonoma.

Museums:

Tech Museum in San Jose

Computer History Museum

Parks:

Point Reyes

Point Lobos

Stanford Theater - Palo Alto

Half Moon Bay - lots of beaches, the Half Moon Bay Brewery serves up microbrews with food pairings with heated outdoor seating and a view of half moon bay.

Lemans Karting - High Speed Go-Karts

Indoor Rock Climbing at Planet Granite - multiple locations in the bay area, get a day pass or a membership, shoes and harness available for rent

Berkley:

Thai temple - lunch on Sundays - http://www.yelp.com/biz/wat-mongkolratanaram-berkeley

UC Berkeley campus & Campanile: http://visitors.berkeley.edu/

Bear Basics/T-Shirt Orgy - http://www.yelp.com/biz/bear-basics-berkeley

Bong shops on Telegraph Ave. - http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=bong+shop&find_loc=berkeley%2C+ca&ns=1

Rasputin Music - http://www.yelp.com/biz/rasputin-music-berkeley

Lawrence Hall of Science - http://www.yelp.com/biz/lawrence-hall-of-science-berkeley

Fenton's Creamery - http://www.yelp.com/biz/fentons-oakland-2

Cheese Board Pizza - one type of vegetarian pizza daily - http://www.yelp.com/biz/cheese-board-pizza-berkeley

Zachary's Pizza - Chicago style deep dish - http://www.yelp.com/biz/zacharys-chicago-pizza-berkeley

Sake factory - http://www.yelp.com/biz/takara-sake-usa-berkeley

Tilden Regional Park - with steam train, rose garden, & merry-go-round = http://www.yelp.com/biz/tilden-regional-park-berkeley-2

Claremont Hotel Resort & Spa - expensive but yummy Sunday brunch buffet - http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-claremont-hotel-club-and-spa-berkeley

Berkeley Bowl - great produce - http://www.yelp.com/biz/berkeley-bowl-berkeley

Kirala Japanese Restaurant - http://www.yelp.com/biz/kirala-japanese-restaurant-berkeley

Chez Panisse - special occasion, Alice Waters restaurant - http://www.yelp.com/biz/chez-panisse-restaurant-berkeley

4th Street shopping area - http://www.yelp.com/biz/4th-street-berkeley

A little further away:

Yosemite

Lake Tahoe

Jelly Belly Factory

Body Ghost Town

[melandjer]

Things to do in San Francisco

I'm compiling a list of things to do in San Francisco for when our friends come to visit the Bay Area.

Golden Gate Bridge Viewing Locations:

Hawk Hill and Battery Spencer

China Beach

Fort Point

Lincoln Avenue and Baker Beach (Turn right out of the south vista point parking lot onto Lincoln. Baker Beach is a good place for a view and Golden Gate Bridge photo from water level, but be aware that part of Baker Beach is a nude beach. Best in late afternoon.)

Fort Baker

The Embarcadero  (embarcadero center then take the F line down to the wharf, it's a vintage bus line with the old muni that they had from way back in the day and it drops you off right in the wharf area)

The Ferry Building

Farmer's Market every Saturday - Yummy food to sample, a gibraltar at Blue Bottle, cow girl creamery, hog island oysters. Smiley people.

Fisherman's Warf:

Ghirardelli Square - lots of shops and restaurants, including the Ghirardelli factory

Cable Cars

Cable Car museum

Lombard Street (Powell-Hyde cable car will get you to the top of lombard, Powell-Mason will take you close to the bottom)

Pier 39

Views of the City:

Twin Peaks Overlook - 360 degree view of the city and the bay 

Top of the Mark (food and drinks okay, excellent view)

Grandview Park (360 degree view) 

Covallo Point - Sit on the deck at the restaurant at the Inn and you can see the GG Bridge and the Marin Headlands. 

Coit tower

Alcatraz

Haight/Ashbury

Buena Vista Park

The Grateful Dead House

Amoeba Records

Chinatown (it's one of the largest in the US, take them to golden gate bakery for egg tarts, the cable car along california street drops you off right in chinatown)

Japantown

Museums:

The Exploratorium

MOMA

DeYoung

Asian Art Museum

Cartoon Art Museum

Legion of Honor - Great art, great views of the bridge and an organ concert every Saturday and Sunday. Ferg's favorite artifacts: Cycladian statuettes -- 4,500 years old, would pass for modern. Same day ticket can be shared with the De Young.

Musee Mechanique (mechanical museum, by the wharf)

Golden Gate Park (drum circles by the playground, the playground has been remodeled and is nothing like it use to be but the carousel is always fun!)

Japanese Tea Garden

Academy of Sciences

Botanical Gardens

Segway Tours

Row boats and paddles boats in the lake

Bison

Fort Funston - hang gliding, off-leash dog walking, beach

Ocean Beach

Sutro Baths (next to the Cliff House)

Cliff House - two restaurants

Camera Obscura (next to the Cliff House)

Beach Chalet

Dutch Windmills

Sutro Heights Park

Dolores Park

Alamo Square - Painted ladies, part of the opening credits of Full House

San Francisco Zoo

Tiled Steps

Wave organ at St. Francis Yacht Club Audium (audium.org) Murals on Balmy St in the Mission. Stop for a bacon donut at dynamo while you are at it. Look at the impressive one at the San Francisco Womens building while you are there

The Bay Model (scale model of the entire bay made for studying the tides)

Speakeasy - Burbon and Branch

Ingleside Terraces Sundial is one of the world's largest sundials hidden away in SF. You can find it on Entrada Court at Borica. 

Seward Street Slides

Haunted Houses in the Bay Area

Baker Beach (near the Legion of Honor)

Angel Island

Anchor Steam Brewery Tour

The Starlight Room in the Sir Frances Drake Hotel

Union Square - shopping, trollies, beautiful decor at xmas

Grace Cathedral

Palace of Fine Arts - beautiful buildings and garden, also a great location for concerts

City Lights Bookstore

Mission Dolores

Stairway Walks of San Francisco

Wicked Grounds - for the more adventurous, coffee, tattoos, bdsm, nc-17 art

The Castro Theater Sing-A-Longs

[melandjer]

They're just little tiny soy sauce sponges made of starch. Millions of tiny delicious little sponges.

The hubby describing rice

[melandjer]

Francois' tips for a great stay in Paris

We had the good fortune to sit next to a gentleman named Francois on the plane. He is French, lived in Paris for quite some time, and now lives in San Francisco. The funniest coincidence is that he was also staying in Paris for three days before traveling to India! Here are the tips he gave us to make the most of our stay: 1. Try to speak French. Even if all you can say is "parlevous anglais" still try. They will appreciate the effort. Smile a lot. Looking helpless can help too. 2. Parisians aren't rude, the are just busy. They don't have time for tourists. They have jobs to get to. It's more like NYC that way. 3. If the menu is translated into English, then the food probably isn't that good. 4. You've never been truly kissed until you've been kissed in Paris in the rain. 5. Go out at night. It is safe. Experience the city. It has a great night life. 6. Walk. Use the metro for across town distances. Don't use the metro for more than one connection - after that it's faster to walk. 7. Take a boat tour down the Seine. It's very touristy, but you see a lot of the city, and when else do you get to be on a boat, on the Seine, in Paris. 8. If someone asks where you are from, tell them Canada or Australia. Americans have a bad reputation. When you are saying goodbye, and everyone has had a good time, then you can say "actually, I'm an American.". They will say you are the exception, but maybe you will help change their minds about Americans. You won't do it overnight, so don't fight it. 9. Visit the Eiffel Tower. 10. You can't see the Louvre in one day. Maybe not even in a week, but try and see as much as you can.