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.

July Stuff

July has quickly come to an end so I thought I would do a quick summary of some of the things we have been up to this month.

We started off the month celebrating Jonathan's birthday with a BBQ.

A closer look at the fantastic cake Sarah made. (In case you couldn't tell from the theme...Jonathan is a golf enthusiast.)
For the 4th of July, Brian and Moria hosted another BBQ outside of their building. There were a lot of people there and an amazing array of food.


It is probably strange seeing us in sweatshirts and jackets in the summer...but it gets pretty cold here at night. This has been a particularly cool summer so far but I'm not going to complain since we don't have A/C.
This homemade cornhole set has gotten a lot of use over the last year and will continue to get use as long as it holds up!
I had to work last year over the 4th of July and I was very happy to have this year off. We were able to see the fireworks show from Jonathan and Sarah's 8th floor balcony. After missing them last year I was stoked to have a great view!

Moria and I went to this fancy Indian Restaurant 'Junoon' in Palo Alto to celebrate our friend Lindsie's birthday.
It was a little on the pricey side so I was glad we were only doing drinks and cake....but I was so happy we were able to go.

Moria, Lindsie, Me
For Christmas Kevin had bought me a gift certificate for us to go to this place 'Create It' where you paint your pottery and they glaze it for you. We'd done this a few times back in Topeka when we first started dating. We use the mug I made all the time and we thought we could use a couple more

Kevin at work with his creation.

It is amazing how many hours you can spend on these things. We took up a good portion of the afternoon last weekend. We get to pick up the mugs this weekend so I'll be sure to post a few pictures of them then.
This week we had to say goodbye to a friend. Alex just finished up his post doc here at Stanford and was headed back to Geneva. It is strange having to say goodbye to people now. Many of our friends are off in all other directions and many of them we may never see again. I guess we'll have to make a trip to Switzerland so that isn't the case with Alex.

Kevin, Daryl, Bettina, Whitney, and Alex.
I have several pictures from the Chemistry Summer Olympics so stay tuned for another post soon!

Random Hailie and Seth Pictures

I always end up with tons of pictures of Hailie and Seth whenever we visit Kansas for numerous reasons.

1. They are absolutely adorable and who wouldn't want to take tons of pictures.
2. They are constantly doing funny things that are picture worthy.
3. They love having their picture taken

These are some of my favorites that I didn't put in other posts so I thought I'd just throw them together.

Seth's lemon face. (He loves lemons.)
Hailie got herself dolled up to lip sync a little Justin Bieber.

Seth had to suit up for the occasion.
This is one of a series of photos. The kids are at a stage where they want to make funny faces so you end up taking them over and over and over again trying to get a normal one. Thank goodness for digital.

Seth got a new haircut and we decided to put some gel in and give him a faux hawk.
Really really really cute.
Seth practicing his cartwheel.

Go K-State. I let him get the flag.

Hailie in her new rain boots (she insisted on wearing them in the heat....we did bring flip flops along thank goodness!)

One more group shot!