This week has been busy and slow all at the same time. Between prepping our luggage for the upcoming trip (WE LEAVE IN TWO DAYS!!!!!), work, my Dad's eye surgery, and house stuff, I feel like I am simultaneously bored and overwhelmed.
But, right now, everything is dandy. I am searching key french phrases so I am sure we wont (a) get lost, (b) be unable to pay the check, (c) accidentally feed Kris crustaceans, and drinking a giant cup of coffee. This past evening was spent at a rollout in Walnut Creek; 9pm-5am was spent folding crewcuts and noting how tiny cardigans don't really serve a purpose. And I slept from 6:45-noon/until the kitten mewed so loud I thought her little kitty vocal chords were going to bust. Then after a vigorous face cleaning a la "langue de chaton" I called my parents and we discussed how life post macular hole surgery is going.
But with the bags all packed, the me all clean and filled with caffeine, the Kris at work, and the kitty asleep next to me on the couch, everything seems pretty excellent at this point in time! So I am going to spend a relaxing afternoon here and then let the excitement really kick in tomorrow.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Will the Planning Ever Cease?
I realized that I never even posted about our 4 year anniversary trip to SB! I spent months getting it all ready and making sure that Kris was kept in the dark and then once it was finished my brain was so spent I just kept moving forward, planning for the France trip (one week away), and then after that, Kim is visiting, and after that I am sure something else will pop up that requires the artful balance of all my effort and not going bat-shit insane.
But to back track, Kris and I had our 4 year anniversary in February! Yeah for 1,461 days of liking each other (I added one for a leap year, I don't really know). To celebrate, I rounded up a variety of college friends from two states, 4 different Californian cities and one meeting location and somehow managed to plan a 4 day wine tasting adventure with a pit stop in still crazy Isla Vista. I did manage to forget to tell people it was for our ANNIVERSARY so everyone kept wishing him Happy Birthday, but whatever, one small thing, it was still awesome.
It was great, trying to pinpoint the best part is hard, but I think that just having our big, loud, crazy group of friends all together was the highlight. I almost had El Sitio too, sadly it slipped out of my hands and onto the asphalt before I could take even a single bite. But that is just one more reason we will have to plan more and go a Little crazy for another return to IV.
But to back track, Kris and I had our 4 year anniversary in February! Yeah for 1,461 days of liking each other (I added one for a leap year, I don't really know). To celebrate, I rounded up a variety of college friends from two states, 4 different Californian cities and one meeting location and somehow managed to plan a 4 day wine tasting adventure with a pit stop in still crazy Isla Vista. I did manage to forget to tell people it was for our ANNIVERSARY so everyone kept wishing him Happy Birthday, but whatever, one small thing, it was still awesome.
It was great, trying to pinpoint the best part is hard, but I think that just having our big, loud, crazy group of friends all together was the highlight. I almost had El Sitio too, sadly it slipped out of my hands and onto the asphalt before I could take even a single bite. But that is just one more reason we will have to plan more and go a Little crazy for another return to IV.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Off the Grid
Back in Los Angeles I walked by the same taco truck for nearly four years and only ever got sodas or snacks from it. But this new Food Truck craze that has taken over the country has led me to the conclusion that I need to branch out, try new foods, see what mobile restaurants can offer me. So last night Kris and I met up with Klugo and Jim (some friends from Peet's) at Off the Grid.
A weekly event hosted in North Berkeley, Off the Grid blocks off a triangle of space and has 8-10 trucks come park for about three hours while locals sample some interesting cuisine. We started at Koja Kitchen, a Korean/Japanese fusion truck and after the line (30 minutes) ordered up some Kamikaze Fries and a Koja Chicken Pineapple Burger. Questions as to the level of spiciness were met with good natured replies that "no, it's not spicy."
LIES KOJA KITCHEN! LIES LIES LIES!
$13 later I sat down to eat my food and noted that both items were generously doused with Siracha. As much as I would like to level up on my man-meter of spiciness, I could not eat more than three bites before I had to go get some water. So I watched Kris eat food for two and thought about the idea behind the Koja burger. It looked and seemed delicious, as instead of having buns it had rice patties that were solid enough to hold in your hands.
Oh well, strike one for the food trucks. Next we headed to Cupkates, a polka-dotted mini truck filled to the brim with fresh cupcakes. I got a tiramisu and a lemon meringue pie cupcake and commenced with the first. All the sadness of Koja was forgotten as I bit into the heavenly mingling of sweet, espresso-y, mascarpone madness.
We hung around a little longer and Jim got a tasting sampler of ArKi's fried chicken and beignets. I had a bite, but was unmoved in their favor. So Kris and I walked back to BART and shuttled on home (of course we had to stop in at Corso to feed me real food, but that's another story for another day.)
All in all, my feelings for food trucks are 50/50. While I enjoy the socialization aspect of the gathering, I can't say that the food or prices were all that competitive with the bajillion restaurant options I have at my disposal in Berkeley. Minus the cupcakes, those guys were delicious, and I will be back next week for more.
A weekly event hosted in North Berkeley, Off the Grid blocks off a triangle of space and has 8-10 trucks come park for about three hours while locals sample some interesting cuisine. We started at Koja Kitchen, a Korean/Japanese fusion truck and after the line (30 minutes) ordered up some Kamikaze Fries and a Koja Chicken Pineapple Burger. Questions as to the level of spiciness were met with good natured replies that "no, it's not spicy."
LIES KOJA KITCHEN! LIES LIES LIES!
$13 later I sat down to eat my food and noted that both items were generously doused with Siracha. As much as I would like to level up on my man-meter of spiciness, I could not eat more than three bites before I had to go get some water. So I watched Kris eat food for two and thought about the idea behind the Koja burger. It looked and seemed delicious, as instead of having buns it had rice patties that were solid enough to hold in your hands.
Oh well, strike one for the food trucks. Next we headed to Cupkates, a polka-dotted mini truck filled to the brim with fresh cupcakes. I got a tiramisu and a lemon meringue pie cupcake and commenced with the first. All the sadness of Koja was forgotten as I bit into the heavenly mingling of sweet, espresso-y, mascarpone madness.
We hung around a little longer and Jim got a tasting sampler of ArKi's fried chicken and beignets. I had a bite, but was unmoved in their favor. So Kris and I walked back to BART and shuttled on home (of course we had to stop in at Corso to feed me real food, but that's another story for another day.)
All in all, my feelings for food trucks are 50/50. While I enjoy the socialization aspect of the gathering, I can't say that the food or prices were all that competitive with the bajillion restaurant options I have at my disposal in Berkeley. Minus the cupcakes, those guys were delicious, and I will be back next week for more.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Migraines and More
Today I was supposed to wake early, walk to the market a block away, get some eggs and a 6oz plain yogurt, and make a second loaf of bacon bread. But I woke up at 3 am with a splitting headache that made me question what was going on and why the nighttime seemed so bright.
So when I did roll out of bed at 10am (I tried to hide under the covers to stay away from the barely there light coming from the rain clouds outside) I only made it to the kitchen for water before getting right back in with the kitten.
Jaymi is coming down from Tahoe this evening and we are going to do some wine and cheesin' with Alyssa. I just hope my head doesn't feel like this for too much longer.
So when I did roll out of bed at 10am (I tried to hide under the covers to stay away from the barely there light coming from the rain clouds outside) I only made it to the kitchen for water before getting right back in with the kitten.
Jaymi is coming down from Tahoe this evening and we are going to do some wine and cheesin' with Alyssa. I just hope my head doesn't feel like this for too much longer.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Bookswap in the Haight
Given my love of books, and wine, and talking to people, Alyssa thought it would be fun to go to Bookswap at the Booksmith in the Haight last night. We met up at the Ferry building and split a delicious grilled cheese then took Muni to our planned location.
Everything started off a little awkwardly, but they filled the room with about 30 people and split us into groups of 5 so we could talk about our chosen thriller in a smaller group. We all switched tables two times and by the end I had talked to two authors, a slightly awkward geeky couple, and the very sweet owners of the store!
I bought a mystery novel by one of the authors who writes exclusively about Paris and ended up with 4 other books for FREEEE!
After all that it has been nice to hang out and have an evening in with Kris, watching Star Trek and drinking chocolate milk!
Everything started off a little awkwardly, but they filled the room with about 30 people and split us into groups of 5 so we could talk about our chosen thriller in a smaller group. We all switched tables two times and by the end I had talked to two authors, a slightly awkward geeky couple, and the very sweet owners of the store!
I bought a mystery novel by one of the authors who writes exclusively about Paris and ended up with 4 other books for FREEEE!
After all that it has been nice to hang out and have an evening in with Kris, watching Star Trek and drinking chocolate milk!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)