I Love You, California!

I was so excited that Mere's visit finally worked out! She had been so busy with school and as you all know I had an extremely busy summer. It just so happened that I had a four day weekend from work because of Columbus Day and another day the schools were closed, so it provided for a perfect time for Meredith's visit. We had some great girl/sister time together, but enjoyed having Will around at times, too! We were so busy and couldn't wait to come home to cozy up at the end of each day. This visit will also be known as the time when Meredith got me hooked on The Big Bang Theory TV show. Luckily there were many episodes on as re-runs and our On Demand provided many episodes to watch as well! Thursday , October 10th Meredith arrived at the Oakland airport around 5pm. Will, being the best husband ever (and thankfully home despite his busy travel schedule!), picked her up from the airport. They then came over to pick me up from work, and I was able to show Meredith arou...

Remember our good friends Joe and Paola? We met them through some MN friends in January and have seen them several times since? Well, they're expecting a baby boy! Today was Paola's baby shower and I was excited to be able to join in the celebrations. Will and I headed into SF to Joe and Paola's apartment where the shower was held. From there, Will and the other boys went to the park down the street to play bocce ball while the girls did girl things! Cute party favors for the girls! Beautiful brunch. Lovely ladies! After the shower winded down, Will and I made our way back to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. This afternoon Trampled by Turtles, a band from Duluth, MN, was playing! We got there just in time to see them! Later, The String Cheese Incident closed down the night. After shuffling through the crowds and barely being able to hear the music, we decided to sit in the tree covered hill area which overlooks the meadow where the stage is set up. We could hear ...

For my birthday I asked Will to plan something for us to do on the Saturday following my birthday. He planned quite the day for us! He didn't tell me anything that we were doing (though I had a few inklings). We started with breakfast along the Embarcadero at The Posh Bagel. Have you heard of a cronut? Well, it's the new big thing. They started in New York and have made their way to the West Coast. It's a combination of a croissant and a donut; cronut! It was pretty good, but I do have to say I like the plain old donut better. I had to see what the craze is all about, though! Cronut and iced coffee - yum! Ferry Building behind us. Next it was off to Golden Gate Park. We were visiting the Conservatory of Flowers and the butterfly exhibit! It was Will's first time in a butterfly exhibit. Also happening in Golden Gate Park this weekend was the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. The festival takes over most of Golden Gate Park and features 3 days of musi...

How is it that I'm celebrating another birthday in California already? The events of the day were more than I could ever ask for, as I celebrated with some of the best people I know, and talked to and received warm wishes from those far away. I had to work a regular work day, and a couple of the girls got all 50-some girls together in the play yard to sing me happy birthday and they threw together an impromptu talent show in my honor. How sweet! After work I headed home, where I was welcomed with delicious smells of dinner. Will prepared pesto with garlic bread. Yum! Shortly after I got home our neighbors Katie and Alex came over to join us for dinner. Much to my surprise they showed up with a homemade chocolate cake! Dinner and dessert was SO good! Toward the end of dinner I was presented with an envelope labeled "1." I opened it and inside was a handmade card with a riddle on the back, leading me to identify our first destination of the night, a wine bar called ...