Eep!

We're leaving tomorrow (at the caffeine-requiring hour of 7:50 am) for Tampa for the NACDL competition.  The first day of trials is on Friday so at least we'll have all of tomorrow to prepare and polish our speeches.

I bet we're the only people going to Tampa who are going to be completely oblivious of the World Series.  The funny thing is, if we don't make it to the finals (held on Saturday afternoon), we'll be able to have some fun while we're there! We've all packed our bathing suits just in case :-)... But I have to say, it would considerably more gratifying to actually win the competition even in comparison to frolicking on the beach!

Wish us luck!

Below: the Tampa Bay Rays celebrating after their Game 7 win against the Red Sox.

Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay is a dreamy little town about a half an hour from Daly City, right on the Pacific.  It has an old-school Main Street with no chain stores, stellar restaurants, and more than a few indications that the primary population of the town is proudly yuppie.

We went for the afternoon last weekend, even though this weekend is the famous Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival.  We wanted quiet and relaxation so I'm kind of glad we decided to go last weekend instead of this one.

After lunch at one of the best delis I've ever been to (with a wait to prove it!), eaten in the sun on a picnic table, we stumbled upon this beautiful garden:

Wouldn't it be perfect for a wedding?

Yellow roses, my grandpa's fave:

There was also a fantastic b&b, with gardens overflowing with flowers and vines.  Almost Half Moon Bay's pretty close to where we live, we're still tempted to just spend the night here one time:

Don't you love the silver-painted (real) pumpkins?
This sign was hilarious.  I like the town's attitude :-)

And, finally, a wonderful Methodist church that's over one hundred years old (a rarity in California!).

I loved the architectural flourishes and the shade of blue on the accent features. Todd liked referring to the "cupola" in the same way as Geof did on a past episode of "Ace of Cakes," in which he had to make a cupola out of cake!
All in all, a blissful, breezy afternoon. 

Engagement Photo Shoot Link:

You can see all the photos at: http://www.tripleeightimaging.com/gallery/Emily&Todd

Engagement Photos Have Arrived!

Very snazzy DVD case (left) and prints envelope (right), with a beautiful wax seal reading "thank you"

Inside of DVD case - love it!

DVD itself, beautifully laser-inscribed.

Green Roses

Yesterday, while wandering around the Marina, I saw some beautiful succulents with leaves that exactly resembled green roses! They looked beautiful, if sturdier than actual flowers.  And I loved the deep, rich green color.  

Here are a few pics:

Imagine my surprise when I picked up the new Fall Martha Stewart Weddings and saw green roses on top of the cake-shaped stack of cake boxes on the cover of the magazine!  The contrast between the blue and green is subtle and summery.  It's definitely something I'll plan to use in the wedding, though at this point, I don't exactly know how...

The last two weeks

have been quite unspeakably overwhelming.  What with the ever-approaching trial team competition in Florida (from Oct. 22 - 26; am on the fifth draft of my opening!), a 30-page paper for my Criminal Theory seminar and a 10-page paper for Family Law (due at the end of November, with a presentation on the Crim. one set for Nov. 4), finding time to continue the summer job search, keeping up with daily reading for my four other classes, and - my God! - wedding planning, I've kind of reached the end of my tether.  

To give you an idea: on Friday morning, I woke up before six and walked to the BART station so I could have two and half hours of working time in the library before my first class. And I will continue to do that at least until the second week in November just to break even, work wise.  And every night - every single night, now - I have trial team practice. Sometimes, it ends at seven, but more often it ends at 9:30 or 10.  And there are always weekend practices too.  It's still fun (even rather a lot of fun!) and interesting, but it's pretty terribly exhausting too. 

I manage to have about three non-protein bar/ trail mix/ cold sandwich meals - lunch or dinner - a week.

HOWEVER.  There are a few times - even now - that have been terrific, and that have helped me to keep everything happily in perspective.

Exhibit 1:

Our excursion to Walnut Creek on a weekend afternoon two weeks ago:

After exploring the town, we drove up into the mountains and came upon a nature preserve criss-crossed with trails and complete with an open-to-visitors farm!  We came upon several sheep, two terribly frisky goats, and one very fluffy Rhode Island Red (chicken).

Exhibit 2:

Thanks to the extreme generosity of Todd's Uncle Mike and Aunt Sandi, we are now the proud owners of a Cuisinart Convection Bread Machine! (Incidentally, the exact same type Todd and I gave to Alison and Saul for their wedding!)

So far, we've made pizza dough with it:

And a honey-oatmeal loaf:
Both delicious! And it's so easy to just put a few ingredients in the pan, pop it in, and pull out a warm loaf a couple of hours later!

Exhibit 3:

It's Fleet Week in San Francisco, which means the harbor's filled to capacity with tugboats, sailboats, and yachts, and the skies are filled with perfectly coordinated teams of airplanes, swooping and swerving with all the grace and timing of synchronized swimmers.

We got to see the air show first hand today down in the Marina district, where Todd went to watch the USC game before heading to work, and I went for my first wedding dress fitting (more on that later!).

The planes were alternately loud and close, and silent and so far away that they just looked like oddly metallically-glinting birds.  We watched teams of two, four, and eight planes fly past the Golden Gate Bridge, go low over the water, and arc up again in a crescendo of sound right over Crissy Field.  I'm glad there's still some genuine spectacle in the world.  Things that make you just stop and gape in wonder.  And make you forget for a moment about all that you've done and all that you still have to do.