The Savvy Life

Paul and I thoroughly enjoyed our weekend getaway on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Neither of us had spent a lot of time in Marin s before so it was fun to take time and explore the area.   

The highlights of the weekend include: 

• Meandering around Point Reyes Station.
• Taking a detour to hike up to the Life Saving Station and G Ranch Cemetery.
• The scenic drive to the Point Reyes Light House.
• Climbing down, then back up the 30 flights of stairs at the Point Reyes Lighthouse.
• Dinner at Buckeye Roadhouse.

Although we loved exploring the North Bay, one of the most appealing aspects of the weekend was that we were just an hour from home.  Knowing that we wouldn't have a huge trek to get to our destination and back made the weekend that much more relaxing.

Paul and I are taking a little mini vacation this weekend.  My mom and Gary will be staying at our house hanging out with Dante while Paul and I are away.  We realized last night that the last time we took a vacation without Dante was in October of last year when we went to Vegas with our friends.  The last time we got away, just the two of us, was in November of 2009 when we spent the weekend in Mariposa.  

We have decided to head an hour North, just across the Golden Gate Bridge.  We will be exploring the towns of Point Reyes, Inverness, Marin and the surrounding area.  We are hoping to come across a few great restaurants along the way.

I may sneak in a few Facebook posts if you would like to hear more about our trip or offer suggestions about shops, restaurants or points of interest that we shouldn't miss.  If you "Like" The Savvy Life's Facebook page you should receive all of the posts.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

- Melissa

My friend Erika forwarded to me this very powerful story of Amy Seiffert who found a unique way to donate money and raise awareness of the underage victims of sex trafficking in her home town.  Amy doesn't live in a third world country.  She lives in Toledo, OH, an average American city.  I am always inspired by people who are willing to do something about a terrible situation they read about rather than just moving on to the next story.

Read the article at http://bit.ly/mnPfYy

Paul makes the best hamburgers!  I don't know exactly what goes into them because it changes all the time.  What I do know is they almost always contain eggs, Worcestershire Sauce and brown sugar.

This afternoon he decided to make hamburgers since we currently have an abundance of ground beef.  While typing away in my office I could hear him and Dante having fun in the kitchen as the created their latest concoction.  About 20 minutes later Paul brought a plate to me with a tiny hambuger patty smothered in goat cheese.  The combination was heavenly!  For the duration of the meal, instead of making traditional hamburgers, he continued experimenting with these tiny burgers and various toppings.  He put a very fun and delicious spin on an ordinary meal. 

Today is Paul's birthday.  As I'm typing this, I'm waiting for a batch of chocolate to cool enough so I can fold it into whipped cream for the chocolate mousse he requested as his birthday treat.  I decided to do something a little different and doubled the amount of rum the recipe calls for.  I've dubbed this new concoction: Drunken Chocolate Mousse.  My fingers are crossed that he likes it.  The whole house smells like chocolate and rum right now.

Chocolate mousse is Paul's favorite dessert so I have cooked a lot of it over the last 15 years.   My favorite is this one by Cooking, Dunkin Style, a fantastic site for fun and unique recipes: Milk Chocolate Mousse.  Mousse can get incredibly complicated, but this recipe is as simple as melting a little chocolate and folding it into whipped cream.  Try it and let me know what you think.

You would think that after so many years of taking advantage of Round Table Pizza's 1/2 Off on Wednesday Night Special we would be sick of pizza.  But, here it is, Wednesday night and Dante and I are excitedly waiting for Paul to walk in the door with our thick crust pepperoni and pineapple pizza.  It's a tradition all three of us love... and the fact that we pay just $12.01 for our large pizza makes it that much more enjoyable. 

So far this year we have saved $240, just by taking advantage of their half price deal!