spending the day in Napa

We had the morning to ourselves so we headed to downtown Napa for some wandering and window shopping.  We got some really great coffee at Molinari Caffe where they turn their tip jar in to a work of art:

I was impressed.

Evan and I dropped Kelly off to get a massage while we headed to the Thomas to massage our insides with delicious booze.

I had a great bloody mary, Evan had a sparkling lavender lemonade, and we both had some lovely conversation.  With each other and with strangers at the bar.

When we met back up with Kelly we headed to the Oxbow Public Market for a bite to eat before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding, which is where we find ourselves now.  In fact, I need to get dressed, looking forward to a good night.

San Fran: the final day

UNfortunately Will had an unexpected doctors appointment during the day on Friday so I was left to fend for myself on the mean streets of San Francisco.  He was nice enough to drop me off in front of these houses which he was under the impression was the best he could do for the full house house.  While they looked familiar I just couldn't believe that one of them was really the house.  I ended up looking it up on my phone and discovered that these are the houses in the background when they are having their picnic but the actual full house house is on a different street that was way too far out of my way.

So I'm sorry Sergio, I never got to take the picture I had promised you, but at least I still have something to do on my next visit to san fran.

I walked from the painted ladies downtown on my way to meet Meredith for lunch.  It was really fun to just wander through the city.  I saw several houses that looked like they just had to be haunted, like this one:

But then I'd turn another corner and come upon something like this dazzling spectacle:

I commented to will that their town hall was certainly gold encrusted and he responded with, "well we are a city founded on gold".

Touche.

Besides the beautiful architecture and landscaping, I also noticed a trend going on with the sidewalks in San Francisco.  In nyc I got in to the habit of reading all the writing in the sidewalk because every once in a while you'd find a gem.  In San Francisco it was like every time I noticed writing in the sidewalk it would be something bizarre and amazing like this:

When I showed that picture to Will he said, "well it clearly looks like it was written by a child" as if that explained everything.  If anything it just raises more questions for me.

And when I have questions there's only one sure answer that I know to turn to:

I got to Paragon before Meredith and noticed all the makings for a find bloody mary behind the bar.  I was please with my order when this arrived.  I sent that picture to Meghan and she replied, "you can tell it's going to be so good from all those bits floating around in it"

I couldn't agree more, the bits are the hallmark of a well crafted bloody mary.  And that was one fantastic bloody.  Made even better by the swift arrival of Meredith in all her beautiful glory.  It did make me a little sad that I can't swing by Mere's work every day for a casual boozy lunch, but I'm still thankful for the time that I did get.

After lunch Meredith pointed me in the direction of the sea lions.  She said it was a bit of a walk but it was along the water so it would be nice, and it was!  Having no way to look up where the sea lions were on google maps I had to rely on faith that I would eventually get to them.  As I got further and further along I would think the bark of every passing dog was surely the sea lions heralding my arrival, but no, it would just be a St. Bernard.  Just as I was beginning to think that maybe I was destined to never see the sea lions, just like the full house house, I stumbled upon this fantastic sign:

Just when you're starting to lose faith, good old Salty shows up to help you out.  And sure enough, a few turns of the boardwalk and I found myself face to face with some VERY nice guys:

Meredith kept commenting, "I don't understand why you would want to see those smelly obnoxious loud things".  Ummm how about because they are handsome and nice and make funny barking noises and just snooze in the sun?  What's not to love about that?  The tourists on the other hand were less than enjoyable, so I only stayed for a little bit with them before I continued on my wandering through the city.

Having to come all the way downtown for the sea lions did yield an unexpected benefit, a closer view of Alctatraz:

I do want to go there, another reason for me to come back and visit.

I spent the rest of the day just wandering through the city, stumbling upon things like this:

I really like that crazy triangle building on the corner too.  It looks like another haunted one, just like this:

I want to live there!

I also found more weird poetic cement writing:

I think San Francisco must be where hipsters are grown.

After a long day of walking all over the city I was exhausted and ready for my red-eye back home.  Will took me out for a farewell dinner at Social before taking me to the airport.  With my belly full of delicious kale salad and brussel sprout chips I was one contended happy camper when I got on the plane.  I slept like a baby all the way which was good as I had to go to work all day today.  The only reason I have the energy to do this post right now is that I'm still on California time, but this sleepy time tea I'm having is making my bed look better and better.  After last night's sleep on the tray table of my aisle seat I am looking forward to stretching out with the detective at my side.

Thank you San Francisco for showing me an amazing time, I look forward to visiting again soon!

every drink should have one of these

Ashley and I went out for lunch today before she had to go to work.  I ordered a bloody mary, not thinking that it would be the largest bloody mary that has ever happened.  I was also not expecting a paper umbrella, but I'm not complaining.

They speared an olive with the umbrella so it would stay in place.  Ingenious.

You know how sometimes you think you know what you're looking for, but then you're reminded that you have everything you need already.  That's how I've felt seeing my friends in NY this week.

i'm not the sharpest tack

source

Sometimes I go to my own blog and then am disappointed that there isn't a new entry for me to read.  Then I remember that only I can provide new content for my blog.

Maybe I should start having guest writers?  I asked Jon if he would do video recordings of himself relating episodes of my favorite shows as that is one of my favorite things of all time.  If you haven't heard Jon talk about last nights America's Next Top Model then you don't know what you're missing.  I mean, his impressions alone are alarmingly spot on.

But surprise surprise he has yet to send me anything.  I'M STILL WAITING.

In the meantime, who else can I finagle in to providing me with content for my blog.  My fingers are hovering over the m key.  mmmmmmm...mmmmmmeeeee....meeeeeggggggghhhhaaaannnnn

Maybe it's time to restart the series?  I'll give you an opening paragraph, just like old times:

     Ben sat watching the perspiration on the side of her glass, holding his breath for he didn't know how long.  Waiting for something to happen his eyes were fixated on a single drop accumulating mass as it slid down the outside of her bloody mary.  The moisture finally reached the bottom of the glass and immediately soaked in to the leather surface of her desktop.
     "Ok meghan, you're either going to need to tell me why you called me here, or get me a drink, or both" he finally exclaimed, leaning forward.  From behind her turned chair Meghan raised her hand as if to say, 'shut the hell up'.
     "First of all" she said as she turned to face him, and grab her drink, "you know I need my vitamins in the morning if I'm going to be any kind of commander in chief.  And secondly, you know I wouldn't call you in after so many years if it weren't for something big.  Something REAL big"
    With her free hand Meghan slid a folder across the desk towards Ben, with her other hand she lifted her drink to her lips.  Meghan watched his face as he studied the contents of the folder, when Ben's eyes widened she knew it was time.  She pressed the intercom, "Garrett, I think we're going to need more vitamins in here"

Your move meghan.

the kids birthday begins

Jon came to NYC to meet me before we headed to Las Vegas for his birthday.  We went out for brunch before we got on the plane at the barking dog on the UES.  Jon got a mojito and i got a bloody mary.

I don't know what it is about a good bloody mary but it just solves all of lifes problems.  Maybe it's the horseradish.  Either way, it prepared me for a good flight to Las Vegas.  

dream date pt 2

Even after Dan and I had our pre show drinks we were still early for the play so while we waited in the darkness we managed to play MASH for both him and me.  I am ok with the future events of my life, I think it was kind of harsh that he had to specify that I am to have a bicycle with NO basket, but whatever, i'll make do.  At least I don't have to drive the Weinermobile like Dan. 

After the play was over we needed to forget the memories of the bad bloody mary's and the boring play with a trip to the Standard for some AMAZING bloody mary's and great people watching.

I've actually only ever had the bloody mary at the Standard on Sunset in los angeles, which is slightly different than the one served in the west village.  It came garnished with a sprig of rosemary!!! so fancy!  It was really delicious in the drink but also just when you brought the glass up to your face you were enveloped in this really nice rosemary scent.  I still would have appreciated a stalk of celery but I have no complaints. 

We sat in a communal section of the outdoor space which was soon invaded by a family that looked straight out of Growing Up Gotti.  They were actually from Italy but looked like they modeled their lives after the trashiest of Italian icons.  We had fun spying on them for a while but the lack of service led to our disinterest as the bloody mary wore off. 

We eventually found our way upstairs to the highline, upon which we walked uptown.  We ended our night at Barrage where Amy met us for a $2 beer. 

All in all it really was a magical nyc sunday dream date. 

dream date pt 1

Last week at work I decided that I wanted to take in a day at the Theatre so I asked Dan if he'd be interested in accompanying me.  He said he was and that he would even wear a dress, which he didn't.  But we still had a magical dream date on Sunday together. 

We got to the show early because I was paranoid about getting our tickets so we ended up being like 40 minutes ahead of time for a show that was not very well attended to begin with.  After sitting in the lobby for a few minutes we decided that we should probably go somewhere and get a drink while we waited instead of being lurkers. 

We found this cute bar in the west village that actually had a live band!  It was so fun, and kind of sad because there were maybe 4 or 5 other people at the bar besides us to even listen to them.  But even so, it was really cool, I forget how fun live music is.  It made me remember all the times I've been places to hear Leah sing, like in the lobby of Charleston Place.  I always feel so sophisticated. 

Whatever this bar was that we ended up at we picked it because Dan said they had the BEST bloody mary's:

They decidedly were not the best bloody mary's but they weren't the worst.  The worst bloody mary I've ever had was at HK, but I digress.  These just needed a little salt and pepper and they were good to go.

i didn't even have to stand in front of a mirror to make it appear

I went on a special journey to the whole foods in downtown sarasota to get my favorite bloody mary mix that's made by McClure's. I first discovered McClures at Murray's Cheese Shop in Grand Central when I would go to visit lilly, but then found that they carried it at the whole foods on Houston as well. Meghan and I have purchased many a jar, you know, for our vitamins.

Anyways, I get to whole foods and can't find it anywhere. The only bloody mary mixer they had was disgusting and had corn syrup in it. That's the thing I don't understand about whole foods, I mean they do have a lot of things that you can't find anywhere else, like thai coconuts, but then they also have a lot of nasty stuff that is in no way good for you. So there I was in whole foods, desperate for my vitamins, with no way to satisfy my urges.

Then I remembered that we made our own bloody mary mix at Simple. I haven't done it in a year but I still remembered all the fixins, so I made my own. It was so good!!!

Tomatoes, celery, jalepeno, red onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and plenty of vitamin V. Delicious.

I sent Meghan a picture of the two glasses and she said it looked like the celery was throwing up its arms in celebration. I think we all were.