Football and a Beer Festival

Since Stanford was playing UCLA down at the Rose Bowl we decided to have people over to watch the game on television. Stanford hadn't been able to beat UCLA on their turf since 1996 so we were ready for a win.
Luckily we were not disappointed when they shut them out 35-0.

At half time we made a cake (from the box), and Sarah worked her magic with a little whipped cream. I was quite impressed with her block letter skills.
The next day a few of us headed up to San Francisco for Brews on the Bay. We had such a good time last year that we had to go again.

Kevin, Dennis, and Brian on Caltrain.
Here we are on the Muni headed to Pier 45 to board the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien.
It turned out to be a really nice day although I was glad I remembered by sweater.
It was a little windy.
This year was a Van-Halen cover band. They weren't as good as the Bono cover band from last year...but how can you not appreciate a guy willing to wear leather pants and sing for you?
They had more of the ship blocked off than they did last year so we weren't able to wander around very much. It was still cool to be able to hang out on a boat in the city all day with great friends.

We grabbed dinner afterward before catching a train back home. With the long commute it was a long day, but we definitely had a blast!

First Tailgate of the Season!

Football season is finally here and that means we are going to be busy this fall. Kevin and I (along with the help of our friend Dennis) are in charge of the graduate chemistry tailgates for the year. We've been mentally getting ready to take on this task for quite some time and it was exciting for the first game to finally be here.

I was wanting to make something special for the first game so I decided to make helmet and football shaped cookies. I spread out the stages over the week so it wouldn't be so overwhelming and Moria came over one day last week to help me decorate them. I was very grateful for the help.
Here is a picture of the final product.
I was very happy with how they turned out. I love excuses to make themed cookies. Plus when I make them for an event Kevin and I aren't stuck with a bunch of cookies to eat.
Lupin wanted to get in on the action.
Our awesome tailgate spot. This picture was taken early on so there weren't many people there yet. I was actually surprised with the number of people who came out to watch Stanford against Sacramento State on Labor Day weekend.

Daryl, Dennis, Chris, Kevin, and Scott. It was our friend Chris' last day at Stanford before heading back to New York. Luckily we'll see him next month when he returns for a wedding.I finally broke out my new shirt (Thanks Patti!).
Miguel is a post-doc in Kevin's lab and is from Germany. He brought his friend Francesca who is from Italy. Neither of them had even been to an American tailgate and we were very excited to show them a good time. They beat us in beer pong (Kevin and I aren't very good) but I was able to beat Miguel in one on one flip cup later on.
Kevin on the grill.
After beating Miguel in flip cup.
As you may remember from last year we try to find fans from the opposing team to take on in flip cup. Sac State fans were a little slim for the picking, but we were able to find some older gentlemen to play us.
We had to teach them how to play, but I think they had a really good time. They were really good sports and they took getting annihilated pretty well.
Overall I think our first tailgate was a success. Stanford also beat the tar out of the hornets so it wasn't a bad day for them either. My friend Amy will be in town for the next home game and I'm really looking forward to that...stay tuned!

Wicked in San Francisco

Wicked has been playing in San Francisco at the Orpheum theatre since early 2009 and I'd been really wanting to go see it. (Interesting fact: San Francisco's Curran Theatre originally hosted the previews for the musical back in 2003 before reworking some of the songs and heading to Broadway later that year). With the show ending its run in S.F. in just a few weeks I knew it had to be soon. Plus it would be fun to head up to the city with Kevin for a date.

Balcony tickets were already sold out and we weren't really feeling up to paying over $100 a ticket so we decided to enter the Wicked Lottery. You have to show up 2 1/2 hours before the show and enter your names. We were each able to enter to increase our chances (you get a maximum of 2 tickets if you win)

Then you had to wait 30 minutes for them to do the drawing and announce the winners. You have to be present to win and you must decide right then and there if you want the tickets paying with only cash. It can be a gamble because the seats are side orchestra and with the set of wicked those seats have more of an obstructed view than with most other shows. However, for only $25 a ticket, we were excited to take the risk.

They drew the first name and the lady that won screamed in excitement! I was holding my breath as they called a few more names and then they called my name! It was very exhilarating and I marched up there to claim my "I won the Wicked lottery" button and to buy our tickets.
Our original plan was to head to Little Italy for dinner to have a nice Italian meal, but we decided that the hassle of driving over there and finding parking and then coming back to the Orpheum wasn't worth it...especially since we found a really nice parking spot already and those are rare.

Instead we just walked a little bit trying to find a decent restaurant nearby. We ate at the Hayes Street Grill. After walking in and being seated we quickly realized that we were the youngest people there and that everyone else was obviously very wealthy. Luckily for us we had eaten a little bit when we first got into the city so we weren't famished. It was VERY expensive. The food we did get was delicious, but we probably wont be heading back there any time soon.
After dinner we headed back to get seated for the show. The Orpheum theatre opened in 1926 and the interior was originally designed after a 12th-century French cathedral which basically means it was incredibly gorgeous.

While part of the stage was blocked from view from our seats we were pretty happy with what we got for the price. We were able to scoot one seat closer and it was really only when they were further away from the front of the stage that we had any difficulty seeing. The show was fantastic (although we liked the first Act much more than the second) and the songs were incredible. If you have the chance to see the show I highly recommend it!

It was a great date night in the city and we'll have to head back soon so we can have our Italian dinner!

Camping in Humboldt

A couple of weekends ago we finally made it up to Humboldt County for a camping trip I'd been looking forward to for a very long time. While we have seen plenty of redwoods fairly close to us here in the bay area, we still hadn't been to see some of the really gigantic trees or driven through a one of them. The time finally came.

We drove up 5 hours to get to Humboldt Redwood State Park and I was not disappointed by the size of the trees. It is impossible to really take a picture to capture the full magnitude of how amazing these trees truly are.

After camping for one night we were ready to go exploring. While out trip to the 'Big Tree Area' was more complicated due to an absent minded ranger's directions and an almost empty tank of gas we were still able to enjoy the redwoods and the trip was very relaxing and much needed.

It is difficult to tell from this picture, but we are actually walking along a fallen redwood. It sort of just looks like a path in the road.

We weren't able to do any boating since it's summer and the water levels are low this time of year...but we did appreciate the view.

We finally headed over to the Shrine Drive-Thru tree....one of only a few that remain. The sign claimed that the tree was living but we were a little skeptical. There were cables holding it up and the only green on it looked like it was from plants other than the tree itself. It was still cool to go through it though.

Incredible...but still can't capture it in a photo.




After getting back from our adventures that day we had to practice a little beirut so we will be prepared for tailgate season which is rapidly approaching.
That weekend it was also Smoky the Bears 66th birthday and the campsite was hosting a party that we had to attend. We mostly learned about fire safety (you aren't supposed to play with matches, don't hide in the closet when there is a fire, run towards the scary looking Darth vader-ish fireman, and if you see a fire tell a grown up right away)

We were able to get a picture with Smoky.
Even though we were missing a few of our usual camping buddies (Brian, Moria, and Jason) we did have Colin join us for the first time and the weekend was a blast.
Kevin, Sarah, Jonathan, and I decided to head up to this Victorian village, Ferndale, north of the campsite that we'd heard about from Kevin's parents. We didn't have a long time to hang out and a lot of the shops were closed since it was Sunday, but we still had a good time. There was a blacksmith shop that we explored for awhile and a few other cute stores. It was really overcast but it gave the village a really cool feel.

Just a few photos...



I wish we could have had more time which is always the case, but it was a wonderful weekend. I think all us appreciated being away from work for a few days and just hanging out and enjoying each others company. With football season coming it looks like the next camping trip might not be until October when we make the road trip up to Oregon to watch Stanford take on the Ducks. Maybe we'll fit in some beach camping before then if we are lucky....

Chemistry Summer Olympics

Every summer the Chemistry department at Stanford hosts 4 summer bbq's hosted by different labs in the department. Kevin used to be on the SAC (Student Activities Committee) so he's helped in the past quite a bit. This year his lab was set to host on of them. Rather than throw a typical bbq the Boxer lab decided to create the first ever Chemistry Summer Olympics.

Kevin sent out the email and here is an excerpt I found entertaining... "It will be an evening of grueling competition to encourage some new department records, and build a peaceful and better department through sport. There will be four events including volleyball, cornhole, and croquet. The fourth event will remain a mystery until the day of the games in order to showcase athletic ability in a foreign activity."

Here is one of the pictures they used for advertising the event.
Luckily I had the day off and was able to help out. Kevin and I went shopping at Costco in the morning and we helped get things set up. A guy in Kevin's lab, Brett, was really into the event and helped create an awesome obstacle course for the mystery event.

We had a fantastic turnout for the event and I was impressed with how late a lot of people stayed. (Usually people grab their free food and then either head back to work or have other plans off campus)With the Olympics going on I ended up on the grill for a good portion of the evening but I didn't really mind. I got to talk to a lot of people and never had to be there alone with a hungry line of people waiting for their food. (It is amazing how impatient and particular some people are about their free dinner). Luke and I teamed up for awhile and we had a good time.
Kevin with James right after beating the tar out of him wrestling. I don't think James knew what he was getting himself into.

I didn't get to officially compete in the games since there were already lots of grad students involved, but I did get to go up against Kevin in the obstacle course. I was keeping up pretty well until the end when we had to throw a Frisbee and knock a flask off of a pole.The winners of the first Chemistry Summer Olympics... The DuBois Lab.
Kevin and Brett looking over the results of the competition.
We are really hoping that the Olympics become a tradition every year since we had an amazing time.