Sweetwater Brunch and Book Signings

Sunday started out great because I drove up to Mill Valley (same area where Evie had her surgery) to meet my friends Sarah and Lisa for brunch. We went to this great place called the Sweetwater Music Hall. It's this awesome place that always has live music, including at brunch.
 
We also walked around the cute Mill Valley downtown area and stopped by Alpha Dog and Tyler Florence's store.  

After brunch, I headed to Omnivore Books in SF. Jenna Weber, the author of one of my favorite blogs, just launched her first book. She is on her book tour reading from the book and signing books for everyone. Her blog, Eat, Live, Run is pretty popular so there was a great turnout!

I jumped right into reading when I got home so can't wait for the ride to work tomorrow where I can read even more. It was so nice meeting the author behind a blog you read. She was really cool. Fun Fact - I started reading her blog after finding her linked to my college friend FANNEtastic Food blog. Small world!

While I was out  doing all of this, Erik was brewing beer. He is brewing for a picnic we are having at the end of the month that will also act as a fundraiser for our Team In Training race!

Such a fun weekend!!

Wine in the Sun!

 Saturday was another fun day, just Erik and I together. We went for our run on Saturday AM and then we headed down to La Nebbia Winery. It was one of their "Bottle & Cork" days where you bring your empty wine bottles and they fill them for $5. We picked up five bottles of 2009 Merlot from Paso Robles.

We brought some sandwiches and had some wine. The winery has a big picnic area so we just relaxed with our food in the sun - which was awesome. This winery is in Half Moon Bay - on the coast, south of SF. It's a beautiful town.

Check out the wine label on this bottle. These guys take your bottle and fill them with the wine from a machine. Then, this other machine corks them. As for the label, someone puts them thru this little machine to make them sticky and they slap them on the bottle. ha. I'm sure they are like, ehhh $5 bottle, just get this label on there. Too Funny.

The rest of our night wasn't too exciting - we got pizza and stayed in. It was a good day!

Inner Sunset Friday

We had such a fun filled weekend! Friday started off by going to Social Kitchen with Erik, Tiffany, and Nicole. They had never really been to the Inner Sunset neighborhood so we took them to one of our favorite spots!

After dinner, we headed to a wine bar called Innerfog Wine Bar. It was packed when we got there but the owner helps to seat everyone which is awesome. We sat down on a comfy couch and got a bottle of wine to share.

Guess who we think we saw at the bar....Tracey Chapman. She was sitting with a bunch of friends but looked just like her. Of course, we had to google her and compare photos. hah. I would say it's her but who  knows. We had a fun night!

Corner's Tavern

Corner's Tavern did not disappoint! The restaurant has a very open, Restoration Hardware, feel which was great.

We shared the heirloom tomato salad, burratta, wild arugula, pink peppercorn salad. It was so good, I seriously wanted to lick the plate. 

For my dinner, I had the mushroom corn ragout, chantrelles, romaine puree, poached egg which was pretty good but wasn't amaaaaazing. Tiffany had the burger and loved that! 

Dessert was definitely something to write home about! We shared the butterscotch pudding AND these mini cinnamon donuts with a banana carmel sauce. Ummm SOOOOO good!!

Dinner was delicious!!

The restaurant is in Walnut Creek, which is a cute town. They have every shop you ever need in a cute downtown area. FREE parking everywhere and it's sunny & warm there. Yes, it was a great break from city life. It was a great treat to see my friends on a Monday night. Since we live far from each other, we usually only see each other on weekends!

Downtown Walnut Creek

Starving

Ever since our 10 mile run, I have been starving. I eat every 2 hours and every 2 hours, I am starving for food! I'm excited because tonight, I am going to meet Tiffany & Kelsey for dinner at Corners Tavern. The menu looks awesome and since I will be starving when I get there, I am already picking out my meal!



I'm already drooling over:

heirloom tomato salad, burratta, wild arugula, pink peppercorn

mixed greens salad, strawberries, ricotta salata, balsamic and almond oil

mushroom corn ragout, chantrelles, romaine puree, poached egg

I'll report back as to how the dinner was!

Sunday Streets

It was soooo nice out today. Sunny & warm-ish! Today was "Sunday Streets" near our neighborhood so we hopped on our bikes and rode over. Sunday Streets is something the city does in different neighborhoods in an effort to close down streets to traffic and give everyone the chance to get outside! There are sidewalk sales, bands, bike riding, kids in strollers, and everyone just out & about.





We stopped for a coffee and then rode to Golden Gate park where we heard....Opera! The SF Opera was having a free Opera in the Park event to kick off their 90th year. It was a nice surprise to stumble upon!

 

When we got home, Erik started brewing beer (a pumpkin beer!!) and I took Evie out. I tried to get her to just sit outside for awhile to relax in the sun but it's hard for her to sit still.

This is her "Can I Help You?" look

In Evie news, she is doing great - again. We felt like she had a bit of a setback after Tahoe. She definitely overused her leg and was being really cautious with it. By Friday, she was back to using it. When she is outside, she wants to go fast but when she tries to walk fast, she skips and pulls her bad leg up. Sooooo, I have to make her walk on her leg which means slower walks. We are in our 3rd week of recovery. Woohoo!
 

 Here she is, napping in a pile of clean laundry that I was about to fold. What a life.

Good weekend - good run, fun, and relaxing!

10 Mile Saturday

On Saturday, we started off the day with a ten mile run with our team. It was one HARD run. We started at Ocean Beach, up into Land's End, UP even further through Seacliff neighborhood, and back down to the beach. Then, we continued UP into GG Park where we finally turned around to go back to the beach. WHEW!! This is definitely great training for the NIKE course because we WILL encounter some hills.

Another beautiful run

Overall, we both felt pretty good during the run. I tried out a "Stinger Waffle" at about an hour into the run. I was starting to get hungry and was so grateful to have that on me. So delish & easy to eat = will be eating those on race day.

I was running through the park thinking we had to go to a certain point but that was for the people running 11 miles. Imagine my surprise and DELIGHT when I saw this 10 mile turnaround!! I basically skipped back to the finish line. haha. Erik has been having some calf pain but he felt good during the run too.

After the run, I had to get home to get ready for my friend Sarah's wedding shower. It was held at her friends beautiful apartment. It was nice to meet more of her friends & family. Can't wait for the wedding this fall!!

 

After the shower, I came home and took a nap! I was so tired from that run. Erik went and got a massage so we both had relaxing afternoons. 

We both  had a lounging evening. Erik made us a delicious dinner and we fell asleep early. Full Saturday!

Big Day: Stich Removal

Evie had an exciting day today. I took her to the vet to have her stitches removed! She was super excited to go for a car ride and then when she realized where we were, she promptly started panting and shaking. Such a baby.

We went in to check in and then went back out to the parking lot to wait so she could chill out. This is her panting and wanting to get in the car:

She had her stitches removed which took about five minutes. Then, we had to wait to meet with the Rehab person at the Vet. Yes, this vet has an entire rehab center complete with underwater treadmills. We just talked to the woman about extending Evie's walks, strengthen her leg, etc. I don't think Evie would go for the treadmill but maybe we'll try it. 

I knew when we got home, she would be exhausted from working herself up at the Vet. Yep, she promptly passed out. Now, we have six more weeks of keeping her calm!

In other news, I saw this hilarious video today about a Korean doll called Little Fanny Fart Fart. I mean, how ridiculous/hilarious is this!

Adios Tahoe

 This morning, we got up pretty early to pack up our stuff and get on the road to beat traffic. Evie enjoyed her breakfast on our little deck.

I think she was excited to leave :-( I think she just wanted to go home and get back to her routine and familiar scents. Maybe she will have more fun next year when she can go in the water and run around. 

Before heading out this AM, we stopped to try to take a pic of Evie near the lake. What a mistake. She wanted to go IN the lake, of course. This is the only picture we got. haha. Me trying to turn her around to take the photo that never happened. Next year we'll get one!

What a fun trip. We got some sun, hung out with friends, got to grill out, and get out of the fog for a few days. Our little rental home was perfect for us, great location, and quite a good deal! We definitely hope to come back next summer....

Sunday Funday

 On Sunday, we started the day off right by going to the Java Hut for awesome coffee and egg sandwiches. We walked here from our rental house and it was well worth it!

We found this pirate on our walk back!

 After breakfast, we came back to hang out with Evie. Being in a new house was a little tough for her. She was super excited and wanted to run around but she couldn't. She couldn't get comfortable in a new spot. We tried our best to make her comfortable. Here she is chillin' with her Dad.

After breakfast, we went back to the beach where we tried paddle boarding. This is what paddle boarding is supposed to look like:

That is not what happened. haha. Well, it was no sweat for Erik(of course) but I didn't really like it. There were small waves but I did not feel comfortable standing up. I was on my knees for a little bit but ultimately sat on the board cross legged and just paddled around. It was actually nice sitting in the water (68 degree temp!) and just paddling around. 

After the beach, we brought Evie to this little Dog Bakery to pick out a treat. So cute!

We also stopped for ice cream. I loved this little place! Cute little deck, great cones, good weather = a combo of things we don't get in SF!

We headed over to our friends house for dinner and grilled some burgers and corn. Delish! We also played a hilarious board game and had some drinkies. Fun night!!

 We came home to Evie in this little nest we made for her. Took the pillows off the couch so she didn't jump and could lay on these cushions. Good idea & she loved it!

Beach and Foam Fest

Saturday was a HOT, fun day in Tahoe! In late morning, we walked over to King's Beach for some sun and relaxation. It was a dog friendly beach but Evie was unable to come due to her stitches in her leg. Oh, and plus she would be running around like a maniac and that is not allowed either for another 6 weeks.

 Lake Tahoe is so pretty. We love the ocean but the lake is stunning with mountains surrounding the water.

 On the lake, you can do everything from renting wave runners to paddle boards.

This guy had this crazy jet pack on his back and launched himself out of the water. He was basically flying around above the lake! I forget the name of the company but you could of course, rent this jet pack thing, too!

 It was HOT outside and in the sun so we weren't at the beach for too long. After spending some time with Evie and getting ready, we headed to Squaw Ski Resort for a beer festival. The beer festival was called Foam Fest and was a benefit, which was great! For only $25, we got UNLIMITED tastings and FOUR free full beers. What a deal. Good thing we weren't there for the entire time or that could be a dangerous place to be for too long.

 A few of our friends were up at Tahoe, too, so we all met at the beer festival!

 There were a bunch of beer tents and a fun band. It was great to be at Squaw when there was no snow. So funny to see the green mountains and the ski lifts!

After the beer festival, we had dinner at Squaw. Then, we headed home to chill with Evie. We thought about going over to our friends house but we were so tired. We sat down for a few mins and almost fell asleep. hah.

FUN Day!!!

Lake Tahoe

\On Friday, we left for Lake Tahoe! We had a little photo session in the car on the way up to the Lake. We got stuck in traffic leaving the city and again up near Sacramento. 

 Evie loves to stand with her back legs on the back seat and her front paws on the middle console. Here she is trying to get up in between us. I swear she would love to just get strapped to the hood to watch everything around her.

We stayed in a little cabin in King's Beach for the weekend and it was perfect for us. We were thoroughly impressed with this home. It was clean, modern, FULLY stocked with everything from beach chairs to PlayStation to any utensil you need. There was even a washer and dryer which came in super handy for us coin operated laundry city folk! We will definitely re-rent this home!

Mid Week Report

Things are going great over here and Evie is doing so well. She is walking on her leg and she is starting to become our Evie girl again. She is walking on her leg like she did pre-injury! She wants to be outside and run, which she cannot do for 8 weeks. She wants to play in the house, but she can't do her usual tugging games.

Yesterday, I put her in the kitchen with her little rug, bed, blanket, and her cone. She wasn't too thrilled about that. I had to be at work all day so she was so happy to see me and get that cone off. I should've taken a picture. hah

Last night, we had Fajita burgers that were easy to make. I had a rough idea of what to put in them thru Rachel Ray, but here is what I did:

• Ground Turkey
• Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• A couple drops of Frank's Hot Sauce
• Finely chopped red onion
• Finely chopped yellow pepper
• Finely chopped cilantro
• Melt cheddar on top
• Serve with wheat bun and homemade fries

I had some work to do last night at home and Erik had hockey. Evie was happy to snuggle up on the couch and watch TV.

We are excited because we are going to Lake Tahoe on Friday!! We rented a little house for the weekend and cannot wait to get away!!!!!! We are going to try paddle boarding which should be super fun too :-)