The Sweetest Thing

This past weekend I was in San Francisco & Sonoma for Dre's wedding.

I flew out by myself and stayed with Robyn, and since she had to work, I explored solo. Oysters & beer for breakfast, California Academy of Sciences, SF MOMA & surrounding galleries. It's the first time I've done that and it was pretty fun. I sat in front of the giant fish tanks for as long as I wanted and got to skip exhibits that didn't interest me. Got to see some friends (though not everyone) and ate and ate and ate. OOF.

The wedding was really fun too - my cousin looked amazing and we danced all night to a live band. Robyn & I took the ferry from the Ferry Terminal to Larkspur where her old roommate picked us up to take us to the wedding. You seen that movie The Sweetest Thing? We changed on the ferry and wore blue and pink. All we needed was an 80s dressing room montage.

On Sunday, the next day, we caught a ride back to the city with some new friends and on the way we went wine tasting. It was drizzly and cold so we got some Mitchell's ice cream (what is it about rain that makes you crave this!?) then ordered sushi for delivery and watched movies on Netflix streaming.

Then I hopped back on the plane to come back to NYC. Great to be back but not at work!

Cali in a nutshell

Here's a fraction of the photos we took on the trip. In total, there were 630!!

Arrived Saturday and the first thing we did was hit up In-n-Out for some cheeseburgers. The burgers were solid but the fries left much to be desired. Then headed to T&T's by Civic Center where we stayed all week, and took a walk around Hayes Valley.

Sunday was Tomo's birthday so the day was spent prepping for a home bbq and then eating it all.

On Monday, headed to Burson to see Butch & Lu at the farm, then dinner with the Sacramento Chings at Buco di Beppe.

Tuesday drove to Muir Woods for a short hike, then Stinson Beach where we ate fried chicken and cole slaw with the seagulls. A walk around Chinatown for dinner.

Wednesday was lunch at the Ferry Building with Michael. I had oysters, a porchetta panini, chocolate pot de creme and a ride on M's Vespa. Then to Derek's store Park Life where we got a private tour. It's a combo art and design store/gallery, plus they publish art books. Golden Gate Park & the Hagiwara Tea Garden, then dinner at Koo in Inner Sunset with my cousin Andrea and our friend Jaebock who I have known the better part of 15 years.

Thursday we drove to Napa where we hit up three wineries. Rutherford Hill was our first stop where we purchased a bottle of Zinfandel port. Then on to the big Domaine Chandon where we sampled sparkling wines and had lunch. Our last stop was Artesa, which was back in Napa. It was a little out of the way and up on a hill so we could see a great view of the valley, and scattered with modern sculptures throughout. Shopped a bit at the outlet stores, then headed to dinner at Ad Hoc which was a great experience.

On Friday we headed back to the Bay by way of Berkeley, where we had ice cream at Ici on College Ave. Dinner with Tomo & Tina that night, followed by a game of Scattergories at home.

Saturday we headed to the Mission for breakfast at Tartine (Pacific Coast Breakfast tea & Pain au Chocolat) and then rested until D&L's wedding, which was a small, intimate affair. Tears were shed.

Our final day Sunday, had dim sum with an old family friend before hopping on the plane bound for JFK. The weather was great the entire time and despite my incessant planning, didn't seem too harried. Definitely left a piece of me back there. I think it's under the couch.