5 on Friday

1. Yes, I know! I am a broken record. I just love these videos!

2. This seriously made my whole day! I love Grease! ..and Marines...duh!

3. Great article and video about asking the right questions and giving awesome answers // Jamie has posted some photos from the Bay Area Blogger Meet Up! Did I mention that I won the big raffle prize?! // I participated in a book club on Monday - my very first - and we discussed Gone Girl. Wine and girlfriends was the best way to spend a Monday night! // I have started going to the gym! Woo! I feel awesome! // I got to see my sweet FRIEND at Tosca for a delicious dinner with yummy cocktails and wine - get the Pig Tails...just do it. (thanks to Melissa at Serving Seconds for the recommendation!) // God, I miss Full House! //I had the most delicious Bloody Mary at Zuni Cafe with the sweet Melissa from Serving Seconds this week! What a treat!  (make sure to get the balsamic bloody mary - just trust me.) And the rest of the food was seriously amazing! // I am finally caught up on blogging - yippee! Now what will I write about?! hummm..

4. Last weekend, Rich and I enjoyed a nice and quiet night with a bottle of wine, roasted garlic, cheese and bread. It was amazing! And on Saturday, Rich and I raged for a friend's birthday party. And by rage, I only mean we stayed out until 2am and then Uber'd home and passed out. It is so much fun to spend time with Rich's classmates, put names to faces, and get to know the people he spends most of his time with. We got all dressed up and hit the town! It was a super fun evening!

5. Another shout out to my sweet and deserving husband. I forgot to pay for parking at BART this week. I texted him to let him know to expect a parking ticket (boo! why can't you pay that s**t online!?) and instead of letting it go, he hopped in the car, drove over to BART and paid the meter for me. How did I get so lucky?!

*5 on Friday Link Up

*5 on Friday Link Up 

A bit of Peru in San Francisco (Part 2)

We slept in, after lots and lots of site seeing the day before, leisurely had breakfast and headed back to San Francisco for Day 2 of our whirlwind San Francisco/Bay Area tour. Our first stop was The Ferry Building. We walked up and down checking out all of the artisan shops with delightful treats. 

We stopped and enjoyed an oyster each - albeit with too much horseradish - and then for some cheese from Cowgirl Creamery, bread from Acme and a couple of glasses of white wine at Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant.

the cheeses we selected from cowgirl creamery

We walked along the pier, to 'walk off the cheese and bread' and stopped in TCHO for a cup of their sipping chocolate. Definitely check it out! They also offer daily tours about chocolate making. It is a pretty awesome spot - located near the new Exploratorium museum.

After TCHO we walked to Pier 39, walked along the pier and of course stopped for a photo op with the Sea Lions. They are always so much fun to watch. They are pretty aggressive and always put on a great show.

After our Sea Lion detour, we headed over to Fisherman's Wharf for clam chowder in sour dough bread bowls from Boudin. (Keep in mind that along that walk, there is a man who stands behind a bush and jumps out at people - I had warned Christie, but he wasn't there. I was kind of bummed because I wanted her to experience it! It is just so San Francisco!)

We stopped at the Buena Vista for a cocktail and 1/2 of a crab. The waitress was utterly confused why we didn't order an Irish Coffee...Christie isn't a big fan, so we picked cocktails instead.

We walked around Aquatic Park for some unobstructed views of the GGB and to make room for Ghirardelli Square Ice Cream.

We enjoyed a scoop drizzled with dark chocolate sauce and then waited in line to ride the trolley car from Ghirardelli Square to Union Square. Once the sun we down, the temperatures dropped significantly. It was pretty chilly, but totally worth it!

We hopped off of the trolley on Post street and walked around Union Square stopping in a few shops.

We hopped on BART and headed back to Berkeley for a sushi dinner date with Rich. I am sure you were wondering where he was the entire weekend...well, he was participating in a conference with the Red Cross, so he was pretty preoccupied. 

After our sushi dinner date, we headed back to the apartment where we cracked open the Domain Carneros Champagne Christie bought the day before and toasted to an awesome (and super quick) weekend filled to the brim with site seeing, eating, drinking and a great time!

We are already planning our trip to visit her and our other tour friends and we are already planning her next trip back to San Francisco!

A bit of Peru in San Francisco (Part 1)

As I mentioned here a friend of ours has been in Arizona for an internship program that is hosted by the Medical School she attends in the UK. We urged her to visit us in San Francisco while she was here but we weren't sure that she was going to be able to take the time off. Well, fortunately for us, she was able to sneak away to sunny SF for a couple of days, and boy did I enjoy being her tour guide!

I picked her up from the airport and our first stop was the Painted Ladies. As you can see it was a beautiful weekend without a cloud in the sky! We walked around Alamo Square admiring the beautifully unique architecture of San Francisco. We then headed over to El Farolito for a super burrito, a quick stop at Twin Peaks and then on to Ocean Beach to enjoy said burritos on the sea wall.

On our way to Ocean Beach we made a quick detour up to Twin Peaks for an unbelievable view of San Francisco. Sadly, it was a bit hazy, but the views could not be beat...even with the haze!

 We enjoyed our burritos and freshly squeezed orange juices on the sea wall admiring the huge waves and not being jealous of the surfers (the water is pretty chilly..) And then, of course, Christie had to get her feet wet and walk into the Pacific Ocean for the first time!

We then headed to the Famous Golden Gate Bridge. It was surreal to see the sheer amazement on Christie's face with the bridge came into view. We were in the car, chatting, and all of a sudden she went quiet and I could tell that the bridge had, quite literally, taken her breath away. We walked around to get the best angles and the best photo shots and then walked across the bridge (well only 1/2 way..we had places to be and sites to see!)

After the Golden Gate Bridge, we headed to Napa to go on a winery tour at Domaine Carneros. We learned how champagne is made and enjoyed quite a few tastes of their best champagne. The weather was perfect and the champagne was bubbly - what better way is there to spend an afternoon?

After the tour we headed back to San Francisco to check a few more sites off of the check list and eat dinner. We stopped at the vista point in the Marin Headlands as the sun was setting over the pacific making the sky this beautiful pink color surrounding the GGB. It was stunning!

We then drove back over the GGB and headed to the Palace of Fine Arts. I almost think that visiting the Palace of Fine Arts is more beautiful at night with the way it is lit up. As you may know, this area of San Francisco holds a very special place in my hearts - Rich and I shared our first date and kiss here and at Chrissy Field and Rich proposed to me in the sand while it was raining at Chrissy Field. It was really special to share it with Christie!

We then drove down the windiest street in the world: Lombard Street and headed to The Stinking Rose for lots of garlic, rich eats and beer. It was the perfect way to end the busy busy day!

Nature in Arizona

While we were in Arizona, we were able to get outside and get our blood pumping near Scottsdale. We visited Tonto National Forest, home of the Tonto Natural Bridge as well as The Hole-in-Rock in Phoenix (just as it sounds).

Let's start with the Tonto Natural Bridge.

The bridge is believed to be the largest travertine bridge in the world, standing about 183 feet tall! It was beautiful! The walk is easy. Definitely check out all of the view points and then take about 30 minutes to walk down and under the bridge. You won't be disappointed!

Now moving on to the Hole in the Rock.

On our way to dinner before heading to the airport to head home, we stopped at the Hole in the Rock. It was packed with people, which was a bit overwhelming. Other than that the Rock was really neat and the view of Phoenix was beautiful!

And that, my friends, concludes my recap of the holidays! :-)

FIL Birthday Time

We celebrated my FILs birthday with a the boys going on a hike (I had to work, remember?), a delicious brunch spread, that included homemade bloody marys (mine wasn't too strong! I swear..), happy hour drinks and a delicious dinner with some family friends. It was such a nice and relaxing celebration!

We had dinner at this amazing restaurant in Scottsdale, The Capital Grille. My in-laws are really friends and social people and when they go out they inevitably meet people and make new friends. They had met the head chef at The Capital Grille and they decided to celebrate my FILs birthday there. They told the chef and he had the table decorated and made sure to give all of us the royal treatment. Seriously. It was the best service any of us had ever received in a restaurant. The chef even prepared a beautiful desert sampler plate and sent out a round of champagne. It was glorious and a total treat! I absolutely recommend the restaurant for any special occasion that you may have! And they even have locations all over the US. Sadly, nothing in SF!

After dinner we went back to the house and toasted some Dom Perignom. We toasted to the birthday boy and cheers to many more years to come! Then we opened some more wine and watched the Dick Van Dyke show, kissed at midnight and all went to sleep. It was such a special day and Rich and I were so glad to be there to celebrate!