Sunday Brunch & some Stalktalk!

In a valiant effort to postpone the end of summer, I spent pretty much the whole weekend eating and drinking with friends.  From a dive bar with my teacher friends on Friday night, to a biker breakfast on Saturday morning (you heard that right!), to an impromptu Japanese dinner in Berkeley on Saturday night with my friend Helen, to today's brunch with my college friend, Tara, at what I think might be my new very favorite place:

Chop Bar, Oakland, Jack London Square

my friend Tara with her bloody mary

she's from the northeast, she can't help her snark ;)

ask me what I'm drinking and I'll tell you:

BEN F'S EVOLVE WINE

see?

Not only was Sauvignon Hottie delicious, but so was the food!  Tara and I shared chilaquiles & eggs ala cazuela with a grilled veggie mojo sauce . . . YUM.  I confessed to the waitress that I ordered the Evolve as part of a Ben F. stalking mission, and she said, "That's so funny, he was just in here a couple weeks ago!"  I'll catch up to him someday.  It'll happen.  And if you're curious as to whether I tweeted that picture of me drinking Evolve wine to Ben F . . . the answer is immediately.  

isn't it cute in there?

Hope all of you had as decadent a weekend as I did.  Lord knows I'm making up for it now, since it's the  last day of my 20s and the first day of school.  Wish me luck with my '11-'12 monsters!  Can't wait to meet them. :)

Pictures from Napa Valley

I'm back from my little blog hiatus--my cousin Jennifer is in town visiting, and we've been so busy drinking wine, eating great food, and seeing the sites that I've been absent from the internet entirely.  She's still here, and we're headed out in a minute for a day of seeing some of my favorite San Francisco spots, but I wanted to pop in to say hi and post some pictures from our time in Napa yesterday:

at Cakebread, home of my favorite wine of the day (a 2006 Cab)

Jennifer at our first stop, Baldacci, a charming little family owned winery

me in front of Raymond with some awesome construction going on in the back ;)

cousins in the swanky Raymond lounge

Napa

We had a perfect Napa day: visited four wineries, shared tastings so as not to overdo it, and had lunch at my favorite spot, Tra Vigne Pizzeria.  To finish an already incredible day, we drove over to Cari and JJ's for dinner, where we grilled out over some more wine and laughs.  It's been wonderful having my cousin--who is like a sister--out here; I don't want her to go home!

Friends don't let friends drink alone

When my friend Annie called asking if I wanted to head up to Napa with her yesterday to pick up her bi-monthly shipment at Domaine Carneros, you better believe I was all over that!

(I mean, let's be honest . . . pretty much any excuse to spend the day in Napa is good enough for me.  Dentist appointment, day-long meeting, funeral?  Sure, let's go taste some bubbly!).  I am so lucky to live just 40 minutes away from one of the most beautiful wine countries in the world.  And even though I can't afford to become a member at all of them (like I wish I could) and get shipments of new, surprising, incredible wine several times a year . . . I still love going up and tasting at some of my favorite spots as often as I can!

We started the day off right (with lattes) and then continued it right (with girl talk) on the way up to the winery.  Domaine Carneros looks like an old castle or something, and it sits atop this magnificent hill overlooking rows and rows of grapes.  We each got the sparkling tasting, and they were all so good, I couldn't even decide which was my favorite!

post bubbly flight & feelin' good

After purchasing the best truffle I've ever had in their store (orange mimosa . . . See's Candies, get with the program!), we popped across the street to the chic winery Cuvaison, where we were met with a knowledgeable sommelier (who blogs about wine here) who served us up a very fine (and slightly random) tasting menu.  I came *this close* to caving and buying a membership, but ultimately figured that buying myself expensive gifts right before Christmas was probably an unwise plan.

Our wine guy doubled as a photographer:

at Cuvaison!

After Cuvaison, we figured it would be self-destructive to taste any more wine without a meal, so we drove to downtown Napa and had some food (and another glass of wine) at one of my favorite spots, The Bounty Hunter (which I blogged about in April here).  They have a very impressive wine wall . . .

I'll take one of each!

Annie had some ribs and I had a roasted vegetable sandwich and we both had a blast! ;)  We figured we should call it a day after our third stop, and so we finished the day off right (with another latte) and headed home where, continuing the day's tradition of deliciousness, I proceeded to bake Andes mint chip cookies.

Love it!  Anytime anyone wants to spend the day up in Napa Valley, I'm your girl.  And now I'm off to watch my Saints smash on the Bengals!  Happy Sunday :)

Too much Napa + concrete floor = busted grill!

Lordy.  So, bright and early Saturday morning, Anna and I drove up to Napa to meet my daddy, who was in town for the annual culinary conference at the CIA in St. Helena.

I couldn't quite capture the CIA in all its glory--it is such a gorgeous building!

We stopped at the conference and picked up Daddy, then drove to the house he and his colleagues were staying in . . . I don't think I can adequately describe its splendor, so here are some pictures of our weekend crib (owned by San Francisco fashion designer Rebecca Beeson):

lounge area/formal dining room

pool & hot tub--see the stone hot tub at the far end of the pool?

chicken coop where you could fetch fresh eggs every morning

looking out from the back patio the morning we left

I'm clearly not kidding when I say that this place was palatial.  It was 5600 square feet, complete with every luxurious amenity you can think of, pomegranate & Meyer lemon trees, a garden from which we picked vegetables, spans and spans of land, and a sprawling industrial kitchen overlooking the exquisite wine country landscape.  Unreal.  

Daddy fed me an heirloom tomato sandwich and some choice Gewurztraminer before we headed out to some wineries.  He kindly served as our guide and chauffeur.  First stop (after Cakebread, where they were kinda snobby and told us we needed an appointment) was Sequoia Grove, where they totally hooked us up with some fancy reserve wine:

Daddy and me outside Sequoia Grove winery

After which we continued onto Provenance, where dad slept in the car while Anna and I went into the tasting room!  We were just tipsy enough to buy a bottle of expensive Merlot before heading out and back to the house, where we poured some of our newly bought wine and got into the hot tub.

Somehow, between not eating much all day (no dinner is always my downfall), drinking a few too many pours of vino, and dehydrating ourselves by lounging in the hot tub, things took a turn for the crazier (by this point, my dear daddy was long asleep, leaving Anna, his two colleagues, and me to our mischief).  My share of the shenanigans was perhaps the greatest, because I ended up tripping and falling onto the majestic concrete of our palace and busted up my grill!

not good, y'all

But thanks to my lovely & talented dentist, Dr. Ann Donnelly, DDS, my smile was officially back to normal as of today at noon:

would you believe she did it on my lunch break so I didn't even have to get a sub??

But it was totally worth the chipped tooth and punchout lip, cause I've never seen anything like this place in my life.  The wineries were delightful, the weather was perfect, and we even stopped at the BCBG outlet on our way home, where I bought a darling winter sweater.  

Now, returning home to a flooded apartment was a different story.  YIKES.  At least the Saints crushed the Panthers yesterday (like there was any doubt)!  Hope your weekends were just as fantastic as mine!

Hellooooo wine country weekend!

Summergirl

It's Friday and I'm abuzz with excitement for these things:

1. Halloween Babies!

Here are some of the babes in my life in their costumes.  Some have slacked on sending me photos, so there will likely be more to come, but here's a start.  Even if you don't like babies, there might be something wrong with you if you don't think they're cute in costume. ;)

MILO & JUDE: THE CHICKEN AND THE EGG

which came first?

ARIA:  THE ONE YEAR OLD COWGIRL

doesn't my bestie's baby look natural in her western gear?

FREEMAN: PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON

He lived by the sea . . . 


MATILDA:  THE CHEF

my oldest friend's 2 year old daughter, Matilda, cooking up a feast as a chef!

SAMMY:  LIL PUPPYDOG

ruff ruff!

and just for good measure . . .

LEON: THE UNICORN

he's not technically a "baby," but he is a puppy and he's my nephew!

2. My weekend digs!

Hello, California wine country!  My daddy's in town for an annual culinary conference at the CIA in St. Helena (have you seen it?  the school itself is gorgeous), so my roomie Anna and I are driving up first thing tomorrow morning to tour some wineries, eat some of Dad's gourmet food, and stay here.  Sweeeeeeet 5600 square foot luxury Napa villa!  First stop?

from

Hope y'all have weekends that are just as splendid--and here's to the Saints beating the Panthers on Sunday!

"Healthy" Foods are Not Fun Foods

So lately I've been pretty much eating whatever I want, and since my dear friend Anna moved in, I've been drinking whatever I want. Whenever I want. Which is all the time, essentially. I am a little ashamed to admit that Anna and I have progressed from buying bottles of wine to buying boxes of wine . . . YIKES.

hello, alcoholism! nice to meet you.

But seriously, can you believe Bonny Doon makes this in a freakin' BOX?? $18.99 for the equivalent of 4 bottles--that's about a 50% discount! So, I mean, we have to buy the boxes. It's the more financially responsible choice. :)

All of this has resulted in a wine belly:

pretty sure that guy's drinking wine outta that spout

And so, I've decided to do what I always do when I'm feeling like that guy (and I have weddings and other events coming up) . . .

COUNT CALORIES.

It's kinda the bane of my existence. 1200 calories a day means that I can really only budget one glass of red wine into my day (at most). UGH. So not fun. Yesterday I ate: 2 Morningstar "sausage" links, 2 Quorn "chicken" cutlets, 1 cup brown rice, 2 heads broccoli, a Morningstar black bean patty, and one glass of red wine. Not terrible. But you know what is terrible? My snack at work today:

ugh

Help!! Tell me what you eat when you're trying to be "healthy." I'm a vegetarian, but I can substitute fake chicken for anything with chicken in it. And I love vegetables. And for the record, I'm cheating once a week. I can't let this nonsense infringe TOO much on my social life!!

p.s. All this blog post has made me wanna do is plan a trip to the Bonny Doon winery near Santa Cruz. I'm just sayin'.

A very very good day.

Yesterday was a pretty magical day. This is how it went down:

*It started with my second acupuncture appointment with Thuy, which was even more amazing than my first. Pretty sure this is going to be an incredible addition to my routine.

*I came home relaxed from acupuncture, picked some tomatoes from the garden, and sat down with my computer and started filling out unemployment forms. I was in the midst of trying to figure them out, when . . . I got word that my job was saved! We got fully funded and I get to go back to Balboa next week!!

*I jetted across the street to get some celebratory champagne, and toasted with my roommate (and dear friend whom I LOVE) as soon as she got home.

*California lawmakers declared Prop 8, the highly controversial proposition declaring gay marriage illegal in California, unconstitutional! YAY FOR LOVE! This is such an amazing victory. I'm proud of my state.

In general good news . . .

1. I got an email from a former friend/boss at Tulane, inviting me to come to New Orleans in late October for a 5 Year Katrina Remembrance event! Dave Eggers is a keynote speaker, and there's going to be a panel about the Voice of Witness books on wrongful incarceration/exonerated people and women who've suffered abuse and neglect while in prison. I was invited to participate in the panel discussion, which includes flight/hotel/meals in New Orleans. I'm pretttttttty excited. Anyone wanna meet me here?

The Columns Hotel, aka my favorite place in New Orleans

Trying to convince Summer B to take a lil trip home and hang out with me in NOLA!

And speaking of Summer, go congratulate her on her daddy's cancer being in remission!

Lastly, I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I made a damn good dinner last night to go with my celebratory champagne. You see, my mama's kinda famous for her squash casserole. Those of you who've had it know what I'm talking about it. I replicated it quite nicely, gotta say, and made a caprese salad with tomatoes from the garden. (But no, I can't take credit for growing them). Check it:

deeeeelish

nothin' like mama's squash casserole!

And lastly, I've developed an addiction, y'all. To Friday Night Lights. It's only been a few days, and I've already finished the first season, thanks to my friend Doro's Netflix Instant Watch, or whatever it's called. In particular, I've developed an addiction to the hunkiest man alive:

Tim Riggins, ladies and gentleman. Tim f'ing Riggins.

A San Francisco Summer Day

Today was one of those perfect summer days when you sit at an outdoor cafe with a friend in the city and yammer on and on with each other . . .

My dear friend Brady (child therapist extraordinaire + go-go dancer by night!) and I met a few years ago at Balboa. He's the AB 36-32 therapist for many of the same kids I teach. They're classified E.D.--Emotionally Disturbed--doesn't that sound like such a primitive label? In any case, we immediately bonded over wild kid stories (as well as each other's fashion sense). Brady has become one of my favorite people in San Francisco! He's fun, adorable, versatile, dynamic, and so zen. What a package.

Brady and I had lunch at Cafe Flore, a sweet little restaurant right in the middle of the Castro Distict of San Francisco. We sat on the patio, overlooking Market St., and started out with these:

Shortly thereafter, the waiter brought us our avocado salads--pretty much the most ideal lunch for a sunny/breezy summer day:

(I love salads as big as my head)

So delicious. There is literally nothing like California avocados in the summertime.

We sat in the sun for a couple hours and talked about love and dating and friendships and dancing and jobs. This is exactly the kind of afternoon that brings calm & happiness to my soul. I'll tell you what: amid job insecurity and a roommate moving out and dating woes, I am so grateful for my friends (near and far). Where do you go when you need to be restored?

**On a totally unrelated note: What on EARTH did The Bachelorette do tonight?? I can't believe she sent that dear boy home. I wish I could swoop him up and make him feel better. ;)

TAKE a Napa!

"When you're tired, you TAKE a Napa, you don't MOVE to Napa!"

--Carrie Bradshaw, in one of the greatest episodes of Sex and the City ever: I ♥ New York

The high school where I teach has a funny sort of block scheduling in which we skip one period a day. On Tuesdays, we skip 5th period (the last class of the day that I teach), which means that I am technically done teaching by about 11:30. Usually I stick around and work in my office, meet with students, sometimes meet with teachers/my nonprofit/etc . . . but today, I went to Napa!

I'd ordered this pretty BCBG dress from the outlet store, but since I am never home during the day (I live in Oakland/work in San Francisco), it got returned to the Napa store. Which gave me a lovely excuse to head up to the wine country this afternoon! It took less than an hour to get there from work, and when I got to BCBG, not only did I pick up my original dress (which I've designated for this Saturday's PROM!), but I found the perfect LBD and two sweaters for $9 each. WHAT?!

Wanna see??

hello, glittery prom dress! (BCBG Runway, on clearance for $39!)

hello, adorable silk little black dress! (BCBG, on clearance for $39!)

It was a beautiful, sunny, breezy day in Napa, so when I was done at the outlet, I had one thing on the mind: vino. Um, who goes to Napa and doesn't drink some wine? No one, that's who. So I drove five minutes to downtown Napa and stopped at this adorable wine bar/tasting room called Bounty Hunter where the bartender gave me a few too many tastes--"this one's from an oak barrel, this one's from a steel barrel . . . see if you can tell the difference!" (I poured some out, btw)!

Everyone there was so nice and friendly that I just had to buy three bottles of wine. ;) Since it was happy hour, they gave me a 20% discount, so it was all quite the steal. I stopped at the coffee shop on the corner for a soy latte on my way out, and 45 minutes later was in my apartment in Oakland.

All this in a Tuesday? Damn, I love California.