Karen actually lived on Coronado Island when she spent a year living in San Diego 6 years ago and went through a paralegal program at University of San Diego. So when she heard convention would be here, she was THRILLED to come back for a visit.

Throughout the weekend, she likes to just stop and remind us how much she loves it here. She ended up coming back to the East Coast because she missed all of her family, but if none of us existed, she would live right here on this island.

We decided instead of her saying over and over “Gosh I just love it here. Can you believe this weather…” and all the other things she loves about San Diego that whenever she is thinking wonderful thoughts about it she will just say the code word BANANA out loud so we know exactly what she is thinking. It has turned into the joke of the weekend!!

We rented bikes today and rode a gorgeous 8 miles down to Imperial Beach (almost to Mexico!) and back up to the Ferry Landing on the island. We estimated we covered about 20-22 miles total!

I was a bit nervous riding a bike (esp. with no helmet) but we were on a really nice and safe paved path and there are no hills to race down here!

We got in a great workout – flat riding into the wind isn’t so easy!

Turnaround in Imperial Beach!

We rode back up by The Del and to the landing for lunch

You know the LA or NYC debate we had a few weeks ago? I think if I had $5M I would choose to live here! The houses are just so gorgeous and with such perfect weather year round, the yards and landscapes are pristine!

Lunch landed us at II Fornaio, a fancy Italian restaurant right on the water. We actually ate dinner here 6 years ago when we came out to visit Karen!

After 2 hours of biking, we bread lovers devoured the bread basket!

It was incredible bread! Warm and doughy

Pete of the Great Falls GH joined us for our excursion today. Do I have any Great Falls readers in da house?!

Karen went fancy for lunch with a glass of Sauv Blanc

The entrée I ordered was wonderful – a medley of scallops, shrimp and calamari over wilted arugula and spinach with white beans, garlic and grilled tomatoes. Basically a hot seafood salad!

It was awesome, but left me too full and thirsty!

Matt had a seafood risotto!

We biked home from lunch and are registering for convention and resting.

Banana.

Good morning!! We are well rested and full of coffee! I’m being a lot more conscious of caffeine and had half a cup of regular made in our room followed by about 3 cups of decaf at breakfast.

We slept well, and woke up around 6:30am to open the balcony door for some fresh California air! It’s not too cold out there and feels great!

And the morning gloom is just beginning to burn off.

We walked through the hotel and downtown to find a good spot for breakfast.

This hotel is so famous and cool!

We settled into a spot called The Rhinoceros Café

The decaf! The café had excellent service – my mug was never empty.

I had my favorite vacation breakfast: plain yogurt with granola and fruit.

This granola tasted amazing! I couldn’t help to eat every last crumb because it was that delicious.

So was the fruit! Love it when banana is included in a fruit bowl

Karen got a fancy entrée of eggs with sausage, potatoes and a biscuit and shared a bite of her biscuit with me.

And Matt had the yogurt + fruit bowl with a biscuit on the side – plus 5 cups of coffee and some of Karen’s dish.

Delicious!

We’re going to celebrate the day with a bike ride on the island, and Convention activities begin this evening. We’ve already ran into a handful of owners we know!

The opening ceremonies of the 2012 Great Harvest Convention led 15 of us on an informal field trip up to Temecula to visit the Great Harvest here and the home of owners Brad and Alicia.

The gorgeous backdrop that unfolded!

Karen, Matt and I went wine tasting in Temecula 6 years ago when Karen lived in San Diego for a year. This visit was more of a bread tasting – I will have to come back fore more wine.

The Temecula store is gorgeous and full of dark wood and natural materials. I love visiting other bakeries and getting ideas for our own lobby and flow.

And of course trying new products is always fun too! We actually tasted the Lemon Blueberry Bread Pudding bar (incredible!) and I bought a few Trek bars for trip snacks to try out.

Our mini bus next took us to Brad and Alicia’s home, which is stunningly beautiful and tucked in the hillside

They had fires going -

A stage complete with live band -

And a stocked bar – including some Stone IPA on tap! Love that beer. Wanted to drink the whole keg, but of course I didn’t.

Because somebody else was drinking for two!

A spread up appetizers kept us fed. Our late lunch confused my stomach. It felt hungry but not really growling hungry, ya know?

But I nibbled on the apps because I’m a flavor taster

Peppers stuffed with goat cheese!

And more cheese and crackers (my current favorite foods!)

It felt like 6pm but it was only about 4:30!

Lemonade!

But soon the sun set

The fires became our only source of warmth

And dinner was served!

Alicia made the BBQ herself – she smoked it for two days and made the sauce from scratch. As a North Carolinian, I was eager to taste California BBQ, but it turned out to be NC-style, and    she hit it right on the nose. The flavors were incredible!! No need to smother on a vinegary sauce.

Served on none other than a Great Harvest roll!

We also had fruit skewers and slaw

And for dessert – more bread pudding bars!!

I tried a lemon and the cinnamon chip – it was a toss up which was best!

Only a handful of Great Harvest owners attended the event – the rest of the people were friends of the hosts. By the time musical act #2 came on, the place was packed.

The star of the show was Lee Koch, who I hear will be on the show “The Voice” this coming Monday. He and his wife used to work for Brad and Alicia, and he’s on his way up the music ladder. His performance was amazing!

I am thrilled with the fact that I packed my laptop in my purse so I could take my time writing this post on our hour-long bus ride home. When we get back to the hotel, it will be nearly midnight on the East Coast and I’ll have been up for over 20 hours. Cannot wait to sleeeeeeeep!!!

Hello from the Hotel Del!! We’re thrilled to be staying in such an awesome  historic landmark! Great Harvest knows how to book a convention : )

Our flight went well. I took 3 naps and read The Hunger Games. Almost done with book 3!

These birds of paradise are all over the resort – so hilarious!

Once we checked in, we set out for a late lunch EST and noontime lunch California style.

We found a fun outdoor place called The Fish Company that had fish tacos first on the menu. Sold!

It was, however, way too breezy-cold to be eating outside! I wished I had brought a coat with me! San Diego is tricky – it looks so hot but it’s really so cold!

We had a sushi roll to start – Shrimp Tempura – nicely cooked inside and out for me.

And then a fish taco feast! Grilled mahi-mahi for me with a fruity onion-free salsa they made from scratch for me!

So California fresh

We are departing for Temecula for a party at the GH owners’ house there in just a few!

Happy early morning!!

We were up at 4:45 to leave for the airport. All excited and chipper for now!

Chief Executive Mom:

Baby KERF says hi  

I had a banana upon waking

And a few sips of Matt’s coffee

But the real fun is in my lunchbox!

I made hard-boiled eggs yesterday for the perfect travel protein. Plus cheese + crackers, fruit, trail mix and a breakfast sandwich from Great Harvest.

This is breakfast part II – almond butter, honey, granola on Cville Crunch!!

I’m not sure if our flight has wifi so I’m blogging from Dulles as fast as I can!! See you in San Diego!

[MY NEW COMPUTER ROCKS!! SO FAST! SO COOL!]

Thanks for all of your enthusiasm on BERF today! It’s strange running two blogs. I am certain that someday you will find a baby post on KERF and a food post on BERF! So far I have been pleased with how things have stayed logged in so I don’t have to do too much switching usernames and things.

I listened to Pregtastic while I packed up my suitcase. It’s always on when I’m doing things around the house. And let me tell you podcasts have changed showers! Set up a speaker and suddenly I don’t mind having to get ready for the day so much.

My clothes for the weekend have a purple + gray theme – my favorite colors of 2012! Everything I own seems to be those two : )

I paused for snacktime around 4:30. I had no idea what to make! But I was cold and wanted something hot. Oatmeal came to mind…

Back when I used to work full-time, I kept a canister of oats in my desk and would make oats in a mug with cinnamon and almonds nearly every afternoon for a snack. Case in point: this post! Why don’t I do this anymore!?

So this afternoon I microwaved a third of a cup of Holly’s Oatmeal (yes I said microwave!!) with half milk, half water and stirred in some Wild Squirrel PB. Two minutes on power level 6 was perfect.

Warm, drippy and filling!

Dinner tonight was another of Mother Karen. She brought us a jar of homemade bison tomato sauce and I saved it for a night I knew I wouldn’t want to cook much with all the packing going on.

But it sure made a wonderful and easy spaghetti dinner. Complete with the last of our goat cheese!

I just nibbled on a few corners left in my Valentine’s Day box of chocolates! We’re going to watch one more LOST and then go to bed. Unless we get sucked in… !

We went from 70* and sunny to stormy and chilled. Cold front is on the waaaaaaay!

I’ve been to Body Pump, the bakery and on two conference calls this afternoon.

I was absolutely famished after pump! My stomach started growling during class, which shouldn’t be the case after a normal filling breakfast. Even a cereal one. I think I have elevated hunger-hormone ghrelin levels from sleep deprivation – either that or the baby is hungry from all the ultrasound wiggling!

I immediately ate this snack when I returned from class – grapes, cheddar, animal crackers (which tasted sooo good!)

Now I’m digesting this number in my belly:

Pimento cheese + chutney on end pieces : ) My usual 3/4 sandwich request!

Plus an apple to crunch.

I had a taste of a Carpe Donut that was dropped by this morning. Satisfied my donut craving with the best kind possible – organic + local real food.

And we had visitors at the bakery! Bob is the minister at my parents’ church (and married Matt and me!) and his wife Mae Lee came in with her sister, who lives in Cville, and mother.

I have YET to pack for this trip we’re taking tomorrow. Last year’s Great Harvest Convention was a ton of fun!! It’s more of a vacation for all the owners (with lots of networking and engagement and some education mixed in) than a conference. This year it’s in San Diego and our flight leaves at 6am tomorrow morning!

Better get going!

I’ve been up since the 5:00 hour – I couldn’t sleep my mind was so excited and racing with thoughts. So now I’m headachy and tired. I think this might be the beginning of second trimester insomnia [Caitlin dealt with this too.] A month ago I could sleep 10 hours no problem – now my body wants to think!

Breakfast was easy today – cereal!

• Uncle Sam’ Strawberry (I got this at a blog event and normally wouldn’t pick something with freeze dried fruit. Not because I don’t think it’s natural enough, just because I tend to prefer plain and add my own mixins. But I’m really loving the strawberry essence!!)
• Shredded wheat
• Lots O banana
• Chia seeds
• Sunbutter
• Milk

Hot tea – because even though our high today is 75* (!!), hot tea helps me wake up : )

And the moment so many of you have anticipated!

Baby KERF debuts!

And a real happy birthday to Emily!!

Say hello to the little one!

The ultrasound was wonderful – everything looked good. The baby was moving around SO much in there! I can’t believe I can’t feel it. Matt and I were both surprised since we’re so used to seeing still u/s photos. I figured it would move its arms a little, but it was moving its whole body a ton. The tech needed the baby to get into a certain position for the NT test, and it took a good 30 minutes of wiggling my uterus around to get it there. The baby is a stubborn little one who wanted maximum attention from the outside world!

Check out this shot of the paw! Don’t worry – there are 5 fingers. The thumb was tucked!

After our appointment, I put the finishing touches on BERF and then met my friend Eileen for a walk! She invited me on one and coincidence had it that I had to walk to UVA for a play tonight, so Eileen walked me there. Thanks for the company! It was a gorgeous night.

My dinner + theater date was my other friend Lindsey, who works at UVA and was able to get us tickets to see Vinegar Tom.

We met at Bodo’s (at my request!) for a quick dinner before the show.

Check out this monster!!! Whole wheat + cream cheese galore.

Salad, which I wasn’t in the mood for but ate half of for the nutrients.

And Bodo’s famous raspberry seltzer! It’s not sweet – just flavored! Wish all restaurants carried it.

Check out the cream cheese smash!! I loved every bite of this.

Vinegar Tom was one of UVA’s spring productions. Set in 17th century England, it was about witch trials.

Brilliantly executed, the actors were awesome and the music (which was a rock band!) was great too. The whole play was witty and sarcastic.

Lindsey lives downtown too, so we walked home together (this was planned given the dark!) 2.5 miles went by SO fast! I think I walked close to 8 miles today. Not missing running at all with all the walking!

Matt was already asleep when I got home, so I can’t wait to join him for some rest – so tired!

Waffles kept me full all morning – good thing because it was all shipping + boxes at the bakery!! Those of you who bought more than one bundle – I love you but I hate you! Just kidding, but we had a big snafu to figure out with the multi orders. Thankfully we think we got it!

And my hands are now sore from tape!! Orders should ship today or tomorrow – with the ones that have trickled in probably next week.

Sunshine day!!! I walked to and from the bakery for my workout (and packed boxes!) and I’m planning another 4 miles tonight when I walk to meet a friend and back!

Back at home I had a hard time deciding which leftovers to eat, so I split the difference and had both.

Pizza!

And cold sesame noodles!

Along with a cinnamony pear

In 30 minutes we have our first official ultrasound (I say official because I’ve only had one that was an emergency one at 7.5 weeks). I’m sooooo excited/nervous!! This will be Matt’s first ultrasound too, so that should make it extra special. Back with a report later!!