Hooray for Tiny Turkeys!

Ian and I have had off work since about 6 pm last Tuesday.  Yep, it's Sunday night.  It felt like a lifetime off.

We had about 30 minutes to hang out at home (read: run around the house straightening) before driving to the airport to pick up my Deedahn and Jeff. I had spent some time Saturday creating them a sign, and we came equipped. I guess you could say they were a bit embarrassed.

Not to go into all the detail of our time together, but it was nice piddling, relaxing, running around the city, eating. Wednesday was super crummy weather-wise, which also happened to be the day we chose to go to Alcatraz. 

Alcatraz is still cool--I'm not one for audio tours, or any tours for that matter. But the tour is very interesting, and well-worth the time.

Other highlights have to include that we stumbled upon an ice skating rink in Union Square on Thanksgiving Day and gave it a go. Ian and I always tried to go last year. We even went to the ice skating rink at the Embarcadero Center last year, only to discover it was the day sponsored by Starbucks--aka, free hot chocolate, coffee, and skating. Needless to say it was too packed and we never made it on the ice.

But this year, although warm outside, Jeff, Ian, and I donned our rented ice skates and took to the ice. Deedahn, holding numerous coats, sweaters, and 1 purse, waved to us from the sidelines. A picture of him so familiar to me through all these years.

What can I say? We're suckers for some holiday fun. I am pretty nervous in my old age, so I was a bit slow and wobbly. But at least my butt never hit the ground. And winging around to see the huge tree in Union Square (it was lit on Friday night) was not so bad, either. It was essentially a whole hour of a grin plastered to my face.

We got a late start with making dinner as a result, but Ian put out some tasty Mt Tam cheese (a delicious local favorite), and Deedahn opened the bottle of Kir Royal he brought back from Paris. Lovely. We had all the traditionals--turkey (our 2-year streak of tiny turkey breast--all 3 pounds!), stuffing, green bean casserole, mac and cheese, sweet potato biscuits, and pumpkin cheesecake. Not a bad endeavor.

The other notable favorite outtings (because why would I blog about the awesomeness of going to bed at 10pm most nights, or enjoying cups of coffee in the morning with my dad?): Golden Gate Park, our dinner at Magnolia, and brunch at Foreign Cinema.

Well, maybe also my walk with Deedahn in the morning after their arrival. It was fun taking him around the neighborhood--seeing Mission Dolores church, Dolores Park--then walking down 18th to Market and back home.

I may also want to mention our "brunch" Friday morning (post-Thanksgiving). It started with Deedahn waking up and having some cheesecake with his coffee. Then Jeff microwaving some mac and cheese for breakfast. Putting Tootsie on the TV. After I made some blueberry muffins, we all filtered in to watch Tootsie and munched on them. I also decided mac and cheese sounded good, so I made myself some. To which Ian returned that call, came back from the kitchen with his own mac and cheese AND pumpkin cheesecake. Which Jeff met, by getting his own cheesecake and heap of whipped cream. Which spawned Deedahn into asking for some mac and cheese. So we made him some, but not before he also asked for turkey. I finished us off by eating a piece of pumpkin cheesecake. It was a lovely disaster chain reaction of a morning, that found us coming out of our food / Tootsie coma at about 1 in the afternoon (still all sporting our pj's. my idea of perfection).

OK--back to other stuff. Golden Gate Park is incredible. Why don't I ever come here? I will start. We took the N pretty much to the ocean, which is also just incredible. 

Then we walked to the edge of Golden Gate by the Dutch Windmill. 

On through trails of fragrant trees, bushes, and flowers. All the way over to the Bison Paddock.

 

Yes, bison. Then further along past lakes and waterfalls, doggies, runners, walkers, bikers, lovers, kids, ducks. Onto the Japanese Tea Garden, which alas, was closed for the day.

On then to Haight Street. To Magnolia, which happens to be a place Jeff loves to eat, but Ian and I have never been there. It was perfect. We were chilled a bit, tired of walking so much. Sat in a booth, ordered our brews, and a delicious gastropub feast ensued. Stuffed, we walked down Haight, and back home.

So Foreign Cinema for brunch Saturday before they left--it's been over a year since I've been there for brunch, but man is it delicious. So glad we made that decision. We made the trek on a gorgeous Saturday morning. Sat outside, and feasted on the homemade pear and raspberry poptarts, a croque monsieur--and then we all had our separate dishes. It was delightful. Headed to the airport, and the only thing happy about the separation is the fact that we'll see them in a few weeks.

It's setting in a bit about how precious the time is...Deedahn is moving to Paris everyone (for those that didn't know). And it's so much harder to get there now that we're living on the west coast. It's like every minute counts. A rare thing that we can all be together at once. Even rarer come January, but we'll do our best.

In the meantime, Ian and I have been preparing for Christmas. The Christmas tree lot has moved a couple of blocks closer to our house, and we're readying ourselves this week to get one. It's good to see a few windows on the street donning lovely, bright lit trees. It's starting to appear everywhere--lit snowflakes line Market Street, wreaths and bows don the streetcars.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, and I can't wait!

Hello again!

I've been thinking a lot about this blog.  For starters, I missed you guys.  What I actually do is walk around the streets of San Francisco writing the blog in my head.  So that by the time I actually might make time to update it, those words have long since disappeared to the non-existent audience in my head.  Alas.  

What I think is that I will stop apologizing for being remiss in writing.  I even had conjured up in my head (oh, about a month ago) something clever about how this blog was Ian's puppy.  How he made it, promised he would feed it and take it out, but when he finally got the puppy, his parents actually had to nurture it.

I digress.  Back to my original reason for posting.  I've been thinking about why Ian created this blog to begin with.  While it's since turned into a narrative of "we did this, we did that:" essentially a good way to stay connected with our loved ones, it ends up getting away from its original design, which is actually selfish by nature.  It was originally set up to document our life in San Francisco.  The title, "Making it our Mission," while sounding completely dedicated or almost religious, is actually a pun on our neighborhood, the Mission.  It's supposed to be all about our discovery of the city, or settling into new life.  Selfishly, it would be great to look back on this and remember when.

We've passed a pretty big milestone in our absence from writing.  Our 1-year anniversary since moving here.  Unfortunately, we did start the blog much later.  But if I were to comment on our 1-year, I'd say something about how different it all is now.  How when we first moved here, we felt like glorified tourists for a long time.  Or, how we made such a big deal about how we needed to explore, how we needed to take advantage of living in such a great city.

All of those things have evolved.  It's not that we don't try to take advantage now.  In fact, in the past few months we've really been enjoying the city.  But I will say that what's changed is the constant desire to feel obligated to explore and discover.  What I've learned about San Francisco is that it has a pulse of its own.  There's a distinct vibration, and maybe once you stop trying to find every nook and cranny of each neighborhood, you'll notice it.  Because it's always there.

When we moved here over a year ago, we stayed in temporary housing in Nob Hill, right on the Cable Car line.  If you've ever been near a cable car line, you'll know that there is this constant humming.  Of electricity in the tracks.  That's what this city has all the time--a life, a vibration.  It's constant and everyone and everything is a part of it.  It seems like it's living to me.

If I wanted to run down the list of things that we've done since we last wrote: Yosemite Park for a weekend and our 2-year wedding anniversary.  Yes, two years!  Seems so long ago, and it's truly odd how I love being married more each day.  I should qualify that.  I love being married to Ian each more every single day.  It's an amazing feeling.

Yosemite was incredible.  We stayed at a bed and breakfast, the weather was lovely.  I have to say that every scene looks like a fake backdrop.  It was majestic, and it's incredible that we're so close to such magnificence.

I've been to Toronto for work (my first time there as an adult)--it was good.  Ian came with me up to Seattle, and we had a great time exploring around.  I actually was just back there last week.  What else?  Our brother-in-law (Hilliary's hubby) came during a business trip and we had a nice dinner together.  The following weekend, Ian's parents came to visit, and Hilliary surprised him by also coming for his birthday.  The weekend after that, our good friend Carmen came to visit.  I've been to Napa (twice)--ridiculous that it's only an hour away...my heros live there (at least the ones I like to drink).  It was like going on a Beverly Hills star home tour if I were into celebrities.  I mean, imagine rows and rows of your favorite wineries!  I was star-struck.

Alas, here we are and it's Thanksgiving.  My bro and Dad are flying here tomorrow, and I can't wait!  

Other item of note is that my office moved...I now work "at the mall."  At least our offices are right above the main enormous mall in SF, and so my life has taken a turn as a result.  I can go into more detail later.

I guess this is just more introductory to say we've been really busy and enjoying life.  But I do want to get this blog back to where it started and to focus on San Francisco and our life here, how we've adjusted and found balance.  It's been such an interesting city to get to know intimately.  Sometimes I feel like I know it so well and nothing surprises me.  Other times, I look around at all the familiar places and everything seems new all over again.

We both joined yelp.com and review restaurants and places that way.  You can look us up and our reviews.  So, we may not review so much here.  Just know we're brunching it every weekend like normal, but we do try to cook more at home.  :)

Enough for now.  Just know that I know this blog is in serious need of attention, which it will get.  Just maybe in a different way.

Strange Things Afoot in San Francisco

Ah, the strangeness that is San Francisco the past couple of weeks!  Here's the rundown:

1.  Sitting on the couch, watching TV, one o'clock in the morning.  Sirens going by, then stopping.  I look out the window, and am met with 6-7 police cars parked in front of the house and down the street.  Long story short, we catch from a cop telling a bystander (taking multiple pictures) that it was car theft.  I saw initially the police running, shouting.  Then later, the caught men sitting on sidewalks, handcuffed.  Policemen retrieving their dropped billy clubs from the street.  All my neighbors doing the same thing: looking out their windows, or standing on the sidewalk.  What a spectacle!

2.  Next night, drifting off to sleep in bed.  Hear a noise, Ian gets up.  He says it's actually about the 3rd noise in a row, all seconds apart.  He goes to look out the very windows we were glued to the night before, and I join him.  On the other side of the street, also in front of our house, are 5-6 police cars, one girl crying on the sidewalk, her red BMW crashed into a parked car.  Then we look up the street and see the havoc she's wreaked.  Multiple hit cars, shoved on the sidewalk or under each other, all bashed in the side.  What did this girl do?!?  Even more neighbors in on watching these goings-on.

3.  Walking to work the next morning, a van pulled over with their blinkers on.  Only to realize it's because she's in some sort of slapping fight with another woman against a restaurant front.  I hate fighting, but I couldn't even stop to call 911 because the slapping and kicking was such a farce.  I had to shake my head and block out the screaming, crowd gathering mess.  And this, only 8:30 in the morning.

4.  Ian and I are on the couch this weekend, watching TV and an enormous truck drives by, rattling everything.  But then the rattling doesn't really stop.  And Ian and I look at each other, and the rattling is still rattling, and we realize it for what it is: an earthquake.  It stops.  Later, we look online and confirm it indeed was an earthquake, our first.  A 4 on the richter scale.  So small that my Mom doesn't even call me immediately to ask if I'm alright (which is what she did the last time there was an earthquake, the one Ian and I were oblivious to).

5.  Ah, the weather!  Another oddity.  Past 2 weeks, like 80 degrees.  Really unheard of.  Which wouldn't be bad at all if San Francisco or the Bay Area ever heard of a little something called air conditioning.  Sometimes, open windows don't cut it and all you can do is take a cold shower.  Ironic that the day after Labor Day was like the first day of summer here, and I donned a white dress.  Then last night, Ian and I watched...literally tracked the fog rolling in.  We were greeted with a chilly grayness today that seemed entirely disparate from the sunshine of this weekend.

If I were an umbrella, my name would be Stan.

Labor Day Weekend and Beyond!

Labor Day weekend was good.  It snuck up on us, which was better...we saw Hamlet 2.  Anyone else see it?  It's pretty funny.

And because it was such a gorgeous weekend, we did our first bike around the city together.  We went down by the water, past AT&T Park, flew by the Ferry Building, Embarcadero, the Fisherman's Wharf, and finally landed in Ghirardelli Square for a cupcake.  It was a fantastic way to see the city.  

Monday, we went back to Muir Woods, but more to hike it (and less to stand and stare up at Redwoods).  

We were out and about the woods for about 3 hours or so.  It was nice to get away from the touristy crowds, and explore the trails in peace.

Alas, that's about all we've been up to, other than the incessant brunches.  We did try a new notable place this weekend, Universal Cafe.  Also tried Stacks, but it wasn't as notable.  If nothing else, we sure do eat out a lot (especially for brunch on the weekends).

Saturday night was also self-proclaimed German night--we ate lots of schnitzel, spaetzle, and had large delicious German beers.  Wunderbar!  And Ian has been working hard (nightly) to perfect his s'mores made right in the kitchen technique.

We have a lot coming up: our 2nd anniversary is Wednesday, and this weekend we're celebrating by taking a trip to Yosemite.  Then, we're both going to Seattle next week--me, for work.  Ian, piggybacking off my trip and checking out the city.  The following week I'm off to Toronto for work. 

Exciting times ahead!

If I were a camera, my name would be Percival.

My awesome husband....have I mentioned I'm the luckiest?

He makes me breakfast in bed on work days. 'Nuff said.

The stuff in between....

Forgot to include random tidbits from the week before we left for NC, so here they are...

My Moroccan dinner with the sales team for work,

 

followed by the Chinatown Bender with my clients...

and our Saturday night in Dolores Park watching The Breakfast Club with friends and a couple of bottles of wine.

If I were a belly dancer, my name would be Sheena.

Weekend--yes, I think we're caught up!

Being back in SF this past week has been good. It was good going back to NC, but good to be home, too.

Wednesday night, my friend Cyndi was in town, and Ian and I had dinner with her at the delicious Belden Taverna.

Thursday night, Ian's soccer game was cancelled and we ended up with a date night. It was my turn to plan, so impromptu I picked an Italian place over in Union Square--it was good. I actually don't totally remember the name, and am just lazy enough not to bother looking for it.

Then we headed over to Moma and to the Frida Kahlo exhibit. Would you believe my behavior? That I love art museums, and still had never been to Moma? Shame on me.

Thursdays is half-price night, and they stay open until 9:45. We had a good date night, if I do say so myself. Highly recommended.

Friday night we were super excited to go to Outside Lands Festival to see none other than headliner Radiohead.

Don't want to spend too much time on it. You can read about it here. Want to maybe point out that I think the reason it got so many stars was the line-up. Otherwise, transportation was screwed (Ian and I walked miles to get there), lines were unbelievable, you couldn't see a thing, the crowds were insane. Ian and I actually left the concert way early, and are happy we did. Although we got on a very crowded train, we heard that after the concert ended, people were jumping fences to get out, fights were breaking out, and lines for the trains were 2+ hours. We were just happy to get home.

Saturday...brunch at J's Pot of Soul in Hayes Valley. It was a new one for us. I read about it on Yelp, and the pumpkin pancakes were indeed delicious. A new good one, close to our house.

I think we might have fairly lazed about the rest of the day, and went to Little Star Pizza for dinner (so darn good). Then our buds Katie and Liz came over for famous Mitchell's ice cream and some Pop5.

Sunday...well, all I can say is we had the brunch of perfection at 2223.

Then it was down Market to the event I've been waiting for: The Little Mermaid sing-a-long at the Castro theatre! OWIE YOWIE YOWSERS! It was the stuff dreams are made of.

I loved it. Just loved it.

Now I'm blogging (have been for seemingly hours...that's what we get for being slackers)...drinking a refreshing kir. Listening to some great music (didn't mention this before, but Ian's managed to wire speakers in just about every room of the house, linking back to itunes...). Ian is playing Call of Duty 4 with Paul on Xbox Live. We're debating Indian or Thai for dinner. We have more Mitchell's ice cream in the freezer, and life is good.

If I were an aloe plant, my name would be Portia.