Bay Area Vaca

Well, it's been awhile, but I have an excuse. I have been SUPER BUSY! Josh and I went camping in the Manzano mountains for Memorial Day weekend, we went rafting with a bunch of friends the following weekend, I went to Canjilon w/ the madre a few days later, then two weekends after that we left for SAN FRANCISCO!!! It was such a blast; we drank decent beer, ate DELICIOUS food, saw lots of art and culture, and I met Josh's parents...

FRIDAY/SATURDAY
We left after I got off work and drove for 15 straight hours... it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but then again I slept half the time :) We got to the hotel Saturday morning around 11.30 and just crashed. We were supposed to go to dinner with his parents, but decided against it. We were just too tired, so we rescheduled for breakfast the next morning, got room service and fell back asleep.

SUNDAY
Sunday, we woke up pretty early and went to meet his parents for dinner. They were awesome! Everything went better than I could have hoped, but it was easy because both his mom and dad (and even his sister) were really nice and easygoing. We went to Heidi Pies, the local breakfast joint, and the food was pretty good. Later that afternoon, we ventured downtown San Francisco. We walked around a bit and eventually stopped at an Irish pub (I can't remember the name of it for the life of me) and had a couple beers and some shots of Jameson! Whew! That left us feelin' alright ;-) After that, we went to one of the malls where Josh got me a cute Kipling wallet. We also saw Up in 3D at the Metrion theater. It was sooo cute! After the movie ended, he took me to a cool pizza place called Gaspare's. It was delicious (even if it gave us gas :-/). We were pretty beat, so we called it a night.












MONDAY
We got started early again, but this time it was because we had to leave the hotel by 7 AM to catch BART from Hillsdale to Pier 1 to go to Alcatraz :D We made it in plenty of time, then walked the mile or so to Pier 39 where we caught the ferry to Alcatraz. If you've ever been there, you know how amazing the tour is, and if not, DO IT ALREADY! There's a huge sense of history and a feeling of eeriness that pervades the place... it's just overwhelming. Like I said, DO IT ALREADY! After touring the grounds at our own pace and picking up a few souvenirs, we boarded the ferry back to shore around 1 PM. We were famished, so we hit up the Hard Rock San Francisco. Food was so-so, but Josh got a drink called Southern Rock (Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, some other shot and coke) and it was GOOD! We had a couple other drinks and picked up some shirts, but the Southern Rock was definitely the highlight of the Hard Rock San Francisco. Again, we were exhausted so we walked the mile or so back (although it seemed like five miles this time) to BART and made it back to the hotel by early evening. I know we had dinner, but I don't remember where :(











TUESDAY
Tuesday was a bit more relaxing, but still an adventure. We drove up to Half Moon Bay and were originally going to go to a local coffee shop for breakfast, but decided at the last minute to go to Sam's Chowder House. Boy were we glad we made that decision! We sat along the window on their covered patio with a full view of the bay. There were sailboats docked and even a few sailing. Needless to say, the view was absolutely stunning. We shared their famous lobster roll, a bowl of clam chowder and their a local hefeweizen. OMG, I WAS IN HEAVEN. I don't know what they did to that lobster, but it was seriously to die for! I'd never had clam chowder before, so didn't have anything to compare it to, but it was super good, too... even the beer held it's own! Josh doesn't usually dig wheat beers, but I believe he may have had a couple of these :) After Sam's, we walked on the beach and drove around for a bit. Eventually, we made our first brewery stop of the vacation: Half Moon Bay Brewery. It was a great little place, but unfortunately the beer wasn't quite so great. It was passable; that is, if you get a chance, PASS IT UP! LOL... I mean, it definitely beat Budweiser or Coors, but it wasn't up to par. Notably, their IPAs just weren't that hoppy. Even their DIPA didn't seem to have the hop content that the ones out here do. Maybe it's just a local style difference, but I was disappointed nonetheless. After a couple beers, we decided to head over to Berkeley. In Berkeley, we went to Triple Rock Brewery, which had decent beer, a chill atmosphere and bones! Josh won. Jupiter was really cool, too. It was really busy for a Tuesday evening, but we still managed to get a table, have a couple beers and enjoy their pizza.











WEDNESDAY
After all the beers we had on Tuesday, you can bet we slept in on Wednesday :) Even so, we were out of the hotel by 9. We stopped for breakfast at a local joint... the food was good, but the waitress was a biatch! Then we went and scooped up Josh's dad, Leon, and headed over to take the CalTrain to the Giants game in San Francisco! The weather was clear for a change, so the view from the stadium was just amazing. Unfortunately, the Giants lost after the LA Angels scored 4 runs in the 8th inning, but it was still a blast. Josh & I had gazillion-calorie hot dogs and picked up some SF hats as souvenirs. We got one for his dad, too. All in all, I think a good time was had by all. We were originally going to have dinner with his parents, too, but his dad was really tired, so we decided to do it another day. His sister was still up for it, though, so we picked her up around 8 and headed over to Burlingame. The place we were originally going to go to was closed for some reason, so we went to another Chinese place next door... and let me tell you, this place was CHINESE! As in no one spoke English and the Chinese immigrants were all eating there. They had stuff I've never even heard of on the menu and fish I had never seen were live in tanks ready for the picking. I got boring szechuan chicken, but Josh had some sort of scallops in a pumpkin sauce. It was... interesting ;) Kind of like eggs.... either way, his sister was cool and the conversation was good. Definitely a dinner none of us is likely to forget. I didn't get pix of it, though, because I wasn't sure if it would have been considered rude.












THURSDAY
Thursday we did Josh's old alma mater, the San Francisco Zoo. After stopping for some sandwiches and coffee we headed over and right away we saw his old boss. He was a great guy and led us over to the student center, which is where Josh worked. We saw some of his other old co-workers and even got a behind the scenes tour of the herpetology section of the children's zoo (that's the reptile area for you non-biologists :). We also got to see a porcupine, great horned owl, and some other stuff up close and personal. VERY COOL! Of course we saw the rest of the animals, too, but that was the coolest part. After the zoo, we drove went back to the hotel to get ready for our romantic sushi dinner across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Rafael. :) San Rafael itself was gorgeous and I joked with Josh that we should move there. Yeah right, though... I think you have to be a millionaire a few times over to even afford a shack there! Anyway, though, we went to Sushi 69. It was a nice contemporary place that had maybe 8 tables and room at the bar. Very quaint, yet elegant. We ordered a nice bottle of sake and had miso soup for an appetizer. Right away we could tell our meals were going to be outstanding. Unfortunately, I forgot exactly waht I got, but suffice to say it is the best sushi I've ever had BY FAR. After sushi, we went back to the hotel and sleeeeeeeept :)

What's eating my plants? *sniff sniff*

Most of the plants are doing well, but lately (as in past week or so), I have noticed that something is eating my sunflower and the runner bean vine. There are random holes and toothy edges in the leaves. At first I thought they were kind of dry, but they are getting adequate water and growing just fine... except for the disappearing portions of leaves. See pics:

Runner Bean







Runner Bean... different leaf, same problem







The whole runner bean plant







Mammoth sunflower. This is the most damaged leaf, but there are others. In addition, there was another one that I cut off that was pretty much eaten all the way to the central vein in a toothy, zig zag sort of pattern.






There are also mushrooms growing in the runner bean pot. Could that be significant? I've been picking them out because I think they're just ugly, but perhaps they could be bad for other reasons?

Anyway, the rest of the garden is doing well. We've taken to putting the pots up on platforms when we're not entertaining to ensure they get enough sun. It doesn't look so pretty, but it works :) Here are the latest pics:

Easter weekend BBQ & Brunch AND Ten Thousand Waves

Easter weekend was a BLUR. Friday night we had a BBQ for some friends, Saturday night we had a more formal dinner for my ex-boss, her husband and some co-workers, then Sunday we had my mom and sister over for Easter brunch. Whew! Talk about a whirlwind. Luckily, I had the week off, so I cleaned pretty much every day leading up to the dinner parties. Josh & I spent the evenings going over menues and beer pairings and various other details. Here are some pics.

Friday:
Josh preparing the burgers - they were stuffed with bleu cheese. YUM!

Keith's phone is blocking Janae's face. Boo. But, it's Keith, Janae, me... and the hummus and veggie tray Janae brought.









Saturday
Me and my mom in the kitchen. I am poaching some eggs and my mom is making her famous fruit salad in the KITCHENAID MIXER. Hehehe







All in all, the three events went well. Our friends ate, drank, and left happy. None of them were drunk - well, except Keith, but that's a given! My coworkers had good conversation, the food was AWESOME (especially the salad), and we compliments all around. Easter was nice. Josh & I made brunch, my mom made dessert and brought flowers, and we just had a quiet morning in. Hope they all go this smoothly!

Ten Thousand Waves:
I planned the Girls Night Out for April and I'm so glad I did. After all the hubbub of the previous weekend and the other crap that's been going on lately, I sooooo needed a massage. And I got the best at Ten Thousand WAves. Keith, Erica and I made the trek up there this past Saturday and treated ourselves. Despite a few setbacks (like passing the exit and turning around in the dirt median on the highway - EEK!), we arrived there just in time. We did the private hot tub first. You know us... we had the wine going on and chilled out for an hour just talking and relaxing. Then we got the treatments - herbal wrap, massage, and salt glow (I think Keith got a yasuragi instead of the wrap). OMG... I can't imagine anything better than that. It's definitely recommended. Here's a pic.

Chocolate chip cookies and my new toy

All you foodies out there (and probably even the non-foodies) have experienced the allure of the Kitchen Aid mixer. I, myself, have coveted this device since I first learned the hassles of mixing cookie dough and the like with... *gasp*... a hand mixer. You know what I mean... you're excited about making cookies, the sugary unmixed ingredients smell delicious, and the oven is warm.

But then you get to the mixing part and your arm spasms just thinking of the effort it will take and the mess that will be created when you flip the switch on your hand mixer. You can't help but remember that you're going to struggle to maintain control of the mixer while the whisks struggle to rotate in the thick, floury mass.

Granted, I don't bake very often (though, I love to cook), but the thought of it doesn't make me cringe inside anymore. Now, I'm super excited to bake and use my new mixer. In fact, Josh & I baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies just last night. And... I have to tell you. It was an amazing experience! The Kitchen Aid handled the thick, gooey cookie dough like it was water. I didn't have to stop and peel dough off the whisk, the flour didn't go everywhere, and I could even leave the mixer to do its work while I prepared the other ingredients. In one word, it is AWESOME. I recommend a Kitchen Aid mixer to anyone and everyone who bakes :)

Growing indoors... for awhile

Since the freezing temps and wind have continued, we've been forced to leave the plants in the shed on a semi-permanent basis. Naturally, this led to them being sad and wilted and in need of sun... but there was no sun! So, I got a grow light. So far, so good. They seem to like it and are perking right up. In fact, I think they are doing better than when they were outside... this is probably due to the fact that even when it IS sunny outside, the balcony gets hardly any direct sun, especially the south end. I think even after the risk of freezing has passed, I will continue to put some of the plants, like the sunflowers, in the shed for periods of time to allow them to get the light they need. Here are a few pics.