All of this, for less than $18!!!

Tomatoes 89¢/lb

Red Potatoes 79¢/lb

White Peaches 99¢/lb

Blackberries 99¢/half pint

We are heading south to Sequoia National Park for the holiday weekend, and hopefully all of this will make it to the cabin! I give the blackberries a 50/50 chance.

Police Horse at the Presidio

There were no holidays, vacations, special events or other engagements that Nik and I planned to be a part of this weekend. However, we made the most of the beautiful weather and it certainly felt like a 2-day vacation in our own city.

We hunted down a new favorite food truck, Chairman Bao Steamed Buns

Shaved Ice & Steamed Bun combo for $9

The Castro was alive with celebrations of Pride Week

One of many Pride events this weekend at Delores Park...we went for the people watching

By chance, we stopped at Stern Grove just as their Sunday afternoon concert began

Sunday ended with a 5-minute bike ride to Ocean Beach

We unintentionally saw all of these amazing things without going farther than 5 miles! This is why I live in the city.

In my life of 28 (almost 29) years, I have called 17 various houses and apartments “home”. That is an average of 1.78 homes per year! But, as you can see from the chart above, I have lived in most of these homes in the past ten years!

So, when I decided to join in on Pin It Forward, a blogosphere ring-around-the-rosie collaboration between sfgirlbybay and Pinterest asking 300 bloggers to blog about “What Home means to Me” through words and images, my first thoughts were about my literal homes and the people I have shared them with.

8 Homes in Tennessee (2 in Hendersonville, 1 in Collierville, 5 in Knoxville), 1 Home in Denmark, 4 Homes in Oregon, 1 Home in Thailand, 1 Home in China and 2 Homes in California. The square footage has ranged from 200sf to 3000sf. They have been on three continents. I have shared 4 with family, 7 with roommates, 2 with no one and 4 with the love of my life. Five have been in enormous apartment complexes. One was extremely decadent. One was over 300 years old.  Seven have been within walking distance to a grocery store. Two of them were on campus. And I do not know who is living in any of them any more (except my current home, of course)!

Hendersonville, Tennessee : At Christmas

Collierville, Tennessee : At Christmas

Hendersonville, Tennessee : The house I grew up in

The University of Tennessee: My side of the dorm room

The ladies that made living in the dorms better than I ever expected

We shared some good times in our first off-campus apartments

Copenhagen, Denmark : Our flat in Christianshavn

My Partner in Crime throughout Europe

Knoxville, Tennessee : The house we called our own

And these were the ladies I shared it with

Beaverton, Oregon : My Uncle's bachelor pad that I crashed!

I'm sure he never imagined I would move in with him 23 years after this photo was taken!

Portland, Oregon : The first apartment I had all to myself

Portland, Oregon : The apartment I never dreamed I would live in

And she is the one that shared it with me.

Portland, Oregon : Perhaps the last apartment I will ever have all to myself

Chiang Mai, Thailand : Our first apartment together

We spent a lot of time at that table!!

Shanghai, China : Another apartment I never dreamed I would live in

San Francisco, CA : The one that gave us time to settle in

San Francisco, California : Finally, our very own Home Sweet Home

Many of the Pin It Forward bloggers are designers, and have filled their Pinterest Pin Boards with the most amazing eye candy!! In addition to the above photos, I have filled mine with a little bit of my own. So, if you haven’t already heard of Pinterest, be sure to take a gander. It is the best bookmarking site I have found for inspiration images, and I recommend that you give it a try. The boards that have been created will amaze you, and you will then want to have an account of your own.

Screen Capture of my Pinterest Boards

The final piece of Pin It Forward is that I would like to literally, Pin it Forward (and backwards!)

Yesterday, Casey Keasler of the K.I.D. Collective posted a great little story about how she came to call Denver home, and how Portland will soon be her new home. The funny thing about Casey is that she also went to the University of Tennessee AND she was in my sister’s interior design class. I reconnected with her via Pin It Forward, and her design blog is now one of my favorites.

Tomorrow, Kate and Jack of the Union Jack Creative will be posting about what home means to them. They have a wonderful eye for photography, design and all things whitty, so check it out!

To see the entire schedule of all 300 Bloggers, click the icon below!!

My brother riding off into the sunrise in Evergreen

Thursday evening, my sister-in-law called and said, “J, will you come to Denver this weekend to watch the kids while I celebrate my 30th birthday?”

I said, “Sure, when do I need to be there?”

The trip was a short one, but it satisfied a certain need I have been feeling lately to spend time with family. I went to the zoo with my niece and nephew, had a pedicure with my sister-in-law, went up to the mountains with my brother, and had a home cooked meal with my aunt and uncle. It was a fantastic weekend!!

My niece in her favorite spot on her daddy's shoulders

Playing drums

He's constantly moving these days!

My Dad, before he was a Dad (circa 1968 or so)

My Dad’s birthday (June 20) almost always coincides with Father’s Day, and growing up, it was always Dad’s weekend. That normally meant that we would grill steaks for dinner one night, maybe have a cake, but otherwise, he didn’t ask for much. He is a man that is happy, and doesn’t want a fuss made. If his family was around, then that is all he ever needed.

Our Family (1990)

Of course, my mother, the one that gives her staff their birthdays off as a standard holiday, rarely let Dad sit back without something being done. For his 50th birthday, she took him to the Nashville Speedway for the Richard Petty experience, and he LOVED it!!!

Dad as a super rock star (2002)

In reality, every day is mother’s day and father’s day in my book. Every day I think of them and am thankful that they have made my life possible.

Mom & Dad in Portland for a visit (2008)

They have been extremely supportive, and even started their own moving company to move me across the country after I graduated from college. Part of the deal was that we stopped at every single state line along the way, and Dad took a photo of Mom and I. Thanks Dad!

2 Parents And A Truck Moving Service (2004)

For this Father’s Day/Dad’s Birthday weekend, I will be in Denver spending some quality time with my brother (also a father now!!). So I will leave you with a photo of our first family trip to Denver. It was my first trip west of the Mississippi and one of the last family vacations that all five of us took together before my brother went off to college.

Dad with his kids somewhere near Pike's Peak (1992)

I love you, Dad. Happy Father’s Day! Happy Birthday!