Stern Grove...Almost

Sunday was a laaaazzzzyyy morning. I got some coffee, turned on the Olympics, and Evie came and cuddled on the couch. It was amazing!

We went out for a walk and then I decided to try to check out Stern Grove. Stern Grove is a beautiful park that has a concert series in the summer.

It was the SF Ballet performing on Sunday and I thought it would awesome! Oh plus, all of the concerts are FREE! Well, I walked down this lonnnnng walkway/hill to the venue. There was a huge stage and it was packed with people all around. The seating down around the stage was closed for additional seating. The other option, was to literally sit in the woods. There was a path and people sitting on the hill among the trees. I would've been happy to sit up there but that was packed too!! There were literally no seats for this show.

I learned that in order to go to Stern Grove, you have to get there around noon for the 2pm show. Oh well!

We wrapped up the weekend by watching more Olympics. We are loving the gymnastics(of course) and swimming!

Social Saturday

Saturday was another run with our team - this time up in Sausalito. We had a really good 7 mile run and Erik ran 10 MILES!!

The run was actually really good. We felt great and I loved hitting the 5 mile mark and thinking, wow that wasn't too bad! Considering I have to run 13.1, I hope I feel like that at 10 miles soon!

I saw this great sign on the run:

We had a foggy ride back over the bridge to SF, too.

After running, I had a hair appointment and then Erik and I went out to meet up with some friends, Mike, Jane, Jon, and Phil. First, we went out to Southern Pacific Brewery. Then, we met up with some other friends, Andrea & Carrie, at St. Vincent's Wine Bar. I would love to go back here and eat dinner.

For dinner, we were able to meet back up with Betsy & Greg for pizza at Little Star. YUM. After that, I was exhausted. 7 miles, no nap and on the go all day. Whew!

What a fun day though!!

Olympic Friday

On Friday, I made another stride in changing my last name to my new married name. I visited the DMV! Going to the DMV was really easy. I made an appointment, made sure I had the right paperwork, and showed up on time. All of those people that stand in line for hours on end, really should think about making an appointment! I was in and out within 40 min.

Now, going to the bank, took much longer. I waited for 20 minutes before even talking to anyone! But, once they saw my paperwork, they made the change quickly. So, all is good and I will have a new license and debit card in a week or two.

For dinner, Erik made home made tortillas for fish tacos. I made a little salad to top the tacos of corn, red pepper, avocado, and lime. It was all soooo good.

The dough ready to be a tortilla

We also watched the Olympics Opening Ceremony and stayed in for the night since we had to run early on Saturday AM in Sausalito.

Taco Thursday

On Thursday, I packed up my stuff for my last 1/2 day in the office. I stayed at the Westin and I really loved it. Great rooms, beds, towels, and service. They pride themselves on the "heavenly" bedding collection and it was pretty nice.

The service there was great. One day, I came back from running and someone was at the door to give me a towel and water. They had a in-hotel restaurant that I didn’t checkout. They had a cool program that if you refused clean sheets each day, you got a $5 voucher to use at the restaurant or coffee café!

For lunch, another food truck came to the office – Jacque’s Tacos. They had a wide variety and were pretty good!

 

After lunch, it was time to head out. I have to say my company really takes care of their employees. I had a car service pick me up the airport and bring me back. They paid for my flight and hotel, meaning I didn’t have to pay for everything and get reimbursed which was nice!!

The flight was uneventful and direct, which was awesome. One funny thing happened on the plane – to me. You know these pillows?

 

Well, apparently mine had a little hole in it. I woke up from sleeping only to find myself COVERED in the little beads that are in the pillow. I was so confused at first thinking about where the beads were coming from. Then, I was like, omg. I have the biggest mess on my hands. Betcha didn’t know that those little balls are SUPER STATICKY and they stick to everything including your hands. Oh yah,they do. haha.

I told the flight attendants what happened and they didn’t seem to care so I guess that was one plus! What a pain.

Erik picked me up at the airport which was nice of him. Evie was also excited to see me and it was great to be home!!

Yummy Wednesday

Wednesday was another great day. Today at lunch, Ned's food truck came to the office. I tried their veggie burger which was...just ok. The truck was really disorganized in terms of fulfilling orders and their food was just OK. We are definitely spoiled in the Bay Area of having tons of food trucks to pick from at any given time of the day.

After work, I tried to go for a run again. I am so not used to being out in the heat. It was more of a run/walk that seemed to take forever. 

For dinner, I was on my own and decided to venture out. I looked up any places in the area that were on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives since I watch that show all the time. I found a place called The Fly Trap. 

 If you can believe it, I have never gone to a restaurant alone. I never have any reason to and when I travel, I'm usually with people. So, I was excited to go out on my own. I had this idea in my head of sitting at the counter, like Lorelai at Luke's Diner. I would chat with the staff or the people next to me. It was going to be great. 

I did sit at the counter but was the only one. The staff was two college aged kids who wanted that restaurant cleared out so they could go home. Oh well! I was happy I tried a new place and didn't just stay at the hotel.

For dinner, I had a salad with black beans, veggies, cheese, tortilla strips, etc. Not really "diner" food but that was what looked good & it was good. They had a really good breakfast menu so I bet this place is packed on the weekends.

It was a pretty good Wednesday! Tomorrow is my last day in Michigan and I head home tomorrow. 

Thirsty Tuesday

Tuesday was a great day at work getting to see the team and meet some people! Our office is really relaxed has a funky decor which is cool.

For dinner, I went with three of the girls I work with to Bastone Brewery in Royal Oak, MI.


They had their own beer on tap and I had the Witface beer:
World Beer Championships Medal Winner
A Belgian style white ale brewed with orange, lemon and coriander 5.25% ABV


For dinner, I had a BBQ chicken sandwich on a pretzel bun. So good but So messy!




Cool place in the downtown area of Royal Oak. It was also so warm out that we were able to eat outside which was a treat for this San Franciscan!

Michigan

This morning, I hopped on a flight to Michigan to come meet my new team at our home office this week. I am actually excited about this trip because I will get to meet all of the new people I have been talking to via phone for the past month, there are no client meetings, and I just get to chill out and do normal work all week. I hope it is a great week!!

Michigan is HOT. It was 100 here today. I got off the 4 hour flight, got to the hotel, and wanted to get out for a run. Whew! It hard. I think I just did about 2 miles and I was worn out. I was dehyrdated from the flight AND it was super hot!

Ran past the library

After getting back to the hotel, I walked back around the block to pick up dinner. I really wanted a huge salad so I hit up Qdoba for a taco salad with lots of veggies, chicken, beans, and a lime/cilantro vinagrette. The Westin I am staying in has an awesome in-room service with great dinners but I wasn't in the mood for anything on the menu. Glad I ventured out to get exactly what I wanted.

Erik is home with Evie this week. She knew I was packing up yesterday and not that happy. She was following me around this AM as I got ready to leave. I told her her Daddy was taking care of her all week so hopefully she understood me and that made her happy :-)

Well it's late East Coast time but I am on PT time soooo I'm giong to try to go to bed. Have a good week!!

Erik’s Alcatraz Swim

Today was Erik's big swim. We got picked up by our friends, Ian & Catherine, at 6:15 am. We dropped Erik and Catherine off at the ferry and they left on the boat at 7am.

Here’s Erik getting his wet suit on before getting on the ferry

It was a beautiful day for a swim. Sunny, breezy, and the water seemed calm!

They got on the ferry and were brought out to Alcatraz. They had to jump off and swim to shore – 1.5 miles!





Done! 54-ish minutes







Erik’s medal!
He said he had a lot of fun doing the swim & definitely wants to do it again!
After the swim and a shower, we went to Axis Café for brunch. Great morning and so proud of Erik!!

6 Miles & Renegade

Saturday started with a SUNNY run in GGP. Woohoo!! After a few weeks of foggy runs, we loooved this one. We ran about six miles from the Conservatory of Flowers to the Beach. Took about an hour or so and it was hard! Downhill down to the beach, uphill back to the COF. Grrrr. Oh well. We did it & it was a good run.

Erik hit the beach and I did some chores around the house. Then, we hit up our favorite craft fair of the year - The Renegade Craft Fair! Can't believe we have been going to this for five years.

Here are some cool things we saw!

Ork Posters

Usagi Dog Collars

The Medium Control Shop

Ryan Kapp

After the fair, we had a good dinner at home and stayed in since we had a 6:15 pick up time for Erik' swim!

Sushi Friday

On Friday, I got out of work a little early and Erik was off from work due to his schedule. He went for a swim to prepare for the Alcatraz Swim while I hung out with Evie.

We were both craaaaving sushi. You know when you tell yourself you want sushi, you just HAVE to have it. We went to our favorite spot - Domo.

We had a couple rolls that were deeeelish! We headed home after dinner to watch some TV and get to bed. We  had to get up early for our TNT run on Saturday AM. Great Friday!!

Photo

 

 

 

4th of July Revisited

I just developed the photos from our disposable cameras and got some pics back from 4th of July, when we went to Rancho Nicasio.

It was soooo hot in the sun. Erik is going crazy here due to the heat. ha!

Yummmmmy BBQ

People were shaking it and doing these choreographed dances. It was hilarious!


Great time up at Rancho Nicasio!

Sprinting

Photo from here

This was Erik & I last night at our track workout with TNT.

Yeah Right.

We did run 200 sprints which was FUN and brought me back to my high school days. If you want to read more about our training, you can read about it HERE. Our training and fundraising is going well but if you want to donate to us, you can do so HERE.

We've been working out, running, swimming, pilates, and getting in shape for our big run in October.
*****

In Evie news, she is still waiting to go see this Specialist on the 31st. Then, we will know when she can have her knee surgery. She is limping a little but she wants to run around and play. She is not moping around, that is for sure!

***
It's Thursday and we are thinking about the weekend....

Erik is  gearing up for his big Alcatraz swim on Sunday! 1.5 miles from Alcatraz to shore. It should be pretty nerve wracking but exciting for him to do!

Our FAVORITE fair is happening this weekend -The Renegade Craft Fair! Can't wait.

Tres Amgias Dinner: Dixie

Nicole, Andrea, and I had our "Tres Amigas" dinner on Monday night. That is the name for ourselves for our monthly dinners - haha!

We went to Dixie, a new restaurant in the Presidio.



I had a yummy dish of "Chicken & Dumplings" which was an unconventional way of eating the dish.

Those little meatballs are the dumplings. They were so good!

We also shared a bottle of Edmeades zinfandel  - my fave!

For dessert, we shared a fruit cobbler.

Service was great.
I loved my dish - but the other ladies didn't love theirs.

Dixie is pricey and the portions are small.

Would probbbbably not go back but it was a good experience.

The company was great, as it always is!

Surfin' Safari

 Awhile back, Erik went to Sunset Shapers to shape his own surfboard. He shaped it and then the guys at the shop glassed it and finished it. Erik picked it up on Saturday and it looks awesome!

Here he is waxing the board, ready to take it out to the beach. It has a cool red stripe on it. 

This is his board. Its 9'2"!!

He will have a lot of fun on this one!

Millionaire's Bacon

We woke up super early on Saturday to head to Ocean Beach for our TNT run.  Saturday morning was another foggy, windy, and cold morning. We got up bright and early at 6:30am to make it to our run at Ocean Beach. Our friends picked us up at 7:10 and we got ready to run at 7:30. 

Our run started at the beach, up into Golden Gate Park, and back to the beach. It was a pretty easy run which was great. I went for 5 miles (in about 52 min which is a good pace for me!) and Erik did about 8 miles. 

It was coooold after the run.

  After the run, we headed to breakfast at Sweet Maple. They had a large and delicious menu!

 I had the Asparagus omelet with cheese, bacon, and hollandaise sauce. The bacon was "Millionaire's Bacon" done in brown sugar and maple syrup. YUM.

After our run and breakfast, we headed out to the East Bay to our friend Kelsey & Sean's house for their son's 5th birthday party! It was nice and warm and was fun to chill on their deck. 

Here is Erik testing out one of Owen's toys. It was a Transformers head that you could talk into which was pretty fun.

Breaking out the beer pong. We are NOT in college anymore, that is for sure. ha

 Nice to get out of SF but we got stuck in TWO hours of traffic trying to get back over the Bay Bridge due to lane closures over some spill on the bridge. Unrealllllll.