(no subject)
the better part of last week was a calm whirlwind, if such a thing is possible. having derek and laura stay with us was a blast, and i like to think they saw the quality bits the SF bay area has to offer.
tuesday: danny picked them up from the airport while i worked. they came, picked me up from sausalito, and we went back to my house for a very epic st. patrick's day feast and movie watching.
wednesday: everyone slept in. i worked with melanie for two hours while they woke up, and then they picked me up in belvedere. we headed out to the pacific coast for a picnic at muir beach, followed by playtime with aiden on the beach, followed by a brief but beautiful walk through muir woods, followed by a very prolonged dinner with cider at the pelican inn. then we saw watchmen on the big one screen in corte madera.
thursday: wine tasting! we drove north, past napa, to st. helena and took in the amazing scenery. we stopped at two wineries for actual tasting. beringer was more commercial, but let us taste at least double the normal amount because they weren't terribly busy; heitz cellars was far more independent and didn't charge for tastings, even though their wine was totally worth it. we picked up an amazing white at beringer, and two bottles of unbelievable port at the other winery, so it was all very worthwhile. in between we had a picnic lunch in the park, during which derek ate an amazing amount of brie, and we all sampled a bacon chocolate bar (milk chocolate with bits of bacon... actually pretty tasty). vallejo was on the way home, so we stopped off at the new house to show derek and laura around, and also get an idea of what it looks like empty and clean. i roasted a chicken for dinner, and we watched Let the Right One In on blu-ray, which was surprisingly worthwhile.
friday: san francisco day. we drove into the city across the golden gate bridge, had lunch at mel's (still tasty but getting really expensive, sadly), then spent the majority of the day touring the new academy of sciences. it's an amazing museum - part exploratorium, part monterey bay aquarium, part original academy - and even though my memories of the original are way more nostalgic, the new building is definitely worth the visit. the only thing we didn't get to experience was the planetarium, but the walk-through rainforest was beautiful, the aquarium feels way more robust, and many of the original stuffed african animal displays are still there, which made my inner child happy. the best part, for me, was the living roof -- you walk up and suddenly you're surrounded by SF native plants and birds and the wind with views of the city. when you're up there, it really does feel like they slid the museum underneath part of the park. also, they kept the original alligator tank with the mosaic tile and the seahorse railing, which made me happy.
after the museum we drove around the eastern part of the city, showing off various random bits of SF architecture and sporadic bay views, until it was time to go to dinner with takahiro and colin. takahiro treated us to a full-on orgy of amazingness at ozumo sushi. highlights included sake-infused vodka, scallop nigiri sushi, brown sushi rice risotto, saltwater unagi, strawberry and green apple sake, braised short ribs, and the freshest squid i've ever tasted. there was more -- much, much more -- and by the time we left i'm pretty sure takahiro ordered half the menu. the sushi overall was very fresh, and extremely delicious, if a bit simple; the chef's plates were also fresh, and delicious, but with a little extra flare. the scallops were the softest i've ever had, which is high praise indeed. dinner was followed by coffee at colin and takahiro's house, and then we drove home.
saturday: lazy day. derek and danny played killzone 2, laura surfed the web and i woke up very slowly. they eventually got up to pack, and we drove them to the airport, which was sad. still, it was nice to turn off hostess mode, and enjoy kittie mode again. i was pretty wiped out, so danny did all the driving as we hit up costco, ikea, random rug store, and home depot, in search of an area rug for the vallejo house's living room. we found one! i really like it.
sunday: danny worked. i raided. we completed the spider wing in naxx 10, and started working on instructor rasuvious or whatever his name is. we actually had more than 10 people show up! i am very pleased my efforts to find a raiding solution worked.
and now i'm back to work as well. i was scheduled for every day this week, except then melanie randomly went on vacation, so my wednesday is free, although i have a lot of stuff i should do that day anyway. tonight is more naxx 10.
and that's that! now i should actually get back to work.
love kittie
tuesday: danny picked them up from the airport while i worked. they came, picked me up from sausalito, and we went back to my house for a very epic st. patrick's day feast and movie watching.
wednesday: everyone slept in. i worked with melanie for two hours while they woke up, and then they picked me up in belvedere. we headed out to the pacific coast for a picnic at muir beach, followed by playtime with aiden on the beach, followed by a brief but beautiful walk through muir woods, followed by a very prolonged dinner with cider at the pelican inn. then we saw watchmen on the big one screen in corte madera.
thursday: wine tasting! we drove north, past napa, to st. helena and took in the amazing scenery. we stopped at two wineries for actual tasting. beringer was more commercial, but let us taste at least double the normal amount because they weren't terribly busy; heitz cellars was far more independent and didn't charge for tastings, even though their wine was totally worth it. we picked up an amazing white at beringer, and two bottles of unbelievable port at the other winery, so it was all very worthwhile. in between we had a picnic lunch in the park, during which derek ate an amazing amount of brie, and we all sampled a bacon chocolate bar (milk chocolate with bits of bacon... actually pretty tasty). vallejo was on the way home, so we stopped off at the new house to show derek and laura around, and also get an idea of what it looks like empty and clean. i roasted a chicken for dinner, and we watched Let the Right One In on blu-ray, which was surprisingly worthwhile.
friday: san francisco day. we drove into the city across the golden gate bridge, had lunch at mel's (still tasty but getting really expensive, sadly), then spent the majority of the day touring the new academy of sciences. it's an amazing museum - part exploratorium, part monterey bay aquarium, part original academy - and even though my memories of the original are way more nostalgic, the new building is definitely worth the visit. the only thing we didn't get to experience was the planetarium, but the walk-through rainforest was beautiful, the aquarium feels way more robust, and many of the original stuffed african animal displays are still there, which made my inner child happy. the best part, for me, was the living roof -- you walk up and suddenly you're surrounded by SF native plants and birds and the wind with views of the city. when you're up there, it really does feel like they slid the museum underneath part of the park. also, they kept the original alligator tank with the mosaic tile and the seahorse railing, which made me happy.
after the museum we drove around the eastern part of the city, showing off various random bits of SF architecture and sporadic bay views, until it was time to go to dinner with takahiro and colin. takahiro treated us to a full-on orgy of amazingness at ozumo sushi. highlights included sake-infused vodka, scallop nigiri sushi, brown sushi rice risotto, saltwater unagi, strawberry and green apple sake, braised short ribs, and the freshest squid i've ever tasted. there was more -- much, much more -- and by the time we left i'm pretty sure takahiro ordered half the menu. the sushi overall was very fresh, and extremely delicious, if a bit simple; the chef's plates were also fresh, and delicious, but with a little extra flare. the scallops were the softest i've ever had, which is high praise indeed. dinner was followed by coffee at colin and takahiro's house, and then we drove home.
saturday: lazy day. derek and danny played killzone 2, laura surfed the web and i woke up very slowly. they eventually got up to pack, and we drove them to the airport, which was sad. still, it was nice to turn off hostess mode, and enjoy kittie mode again. i was pretty wiped out, so danny did all the driving as we hit up costco, ikea, random rug store, and home depot, in search of an area rug for the vallejo house's living room. we found one! i really like it.
sunday: danny worked. i raided. we completed the spider wing in naxx 10, and started working on instructor rasuvious or whatever his name is. we actually had more than 10 people show up! i am very pleased my efforts to find a raiding solution worked.
and now i'm back to work as well. i was scheduled for every day this week, except then melanie randomly went on vacation, so my wednesday is free, although i have a lot of stuff i should do that day anyway. tonight is more naxx 10.
and that's that! now i should actually get back to work.
love kittie