Friday, so good to see you!

 On Friday, I attended an event in the morning and finished working at home in the afternoon. Erik had the day off so I was able to be home with both of them. It was SO nice out; we had shorts and sandals on! Evie was inside and outside all afternoon. It was such a busy week and we were so happy it was Friday!!

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I went into Erik's room and set Evie up on the ottoman near the window so she could watch him outside. When I first set her up here, she did something so crazy & funny:

 

Haha! Jumped right out the window. She didn't get hurt & we didn't let her her do it again.

 Check out this picture of a snail that I captured. He was on our window sill just chugging along!

At the end of the day, we walked down to a restaurant that Erik has been wanting to go to called Revival Bar+Kitchen. They had a great drink list and our meals were So good. The menu is pretty limited though. To start, we shared flatbread with broccoli rabe, meyer lemon, garlic, radish, and egg. So good!

For dinner, I had the handmade ravioli with broccoli, peas, in a carrot buttery sauce. Deeelish!

  Erik had a halibut dish that was also very good.

 

The service was also VERY good which is always nice. I would go back here but check the menu first to ensure there was something on here that we both wanted before heading inside. 

 On Addison St, there are some cool tiles on the sidewalk and we saw this one while walking to the restaurant. Love the quirks of Berkeley!

Thursday Update

Erik and I tried something this week to help streamline our weekends. We did some errands on Monday night to Home Depot and Target to get a few things. This way, we could put them up during the week vs. going to the store AND putting them up on the weekend. We bought a shelf for the kitchen and a rack for Erik's closet.

On Tuesday, I saw one of my favorite friends - Cristin. Cristin and I were inseperable when she lived in SF but then she moved back to Sacramento so I only get to see her once in awhile.


She came to SF for a work conference so I got to see her on Tuesday night!! We went to Osha Thai for dinner in SF. SO fun to see her!!!

It's been so nice here - sunny and 70's. Out in Pleasanton (where I was on Wednesday) it was 80! So nice. Evie was loving the weather the other night after work. We went to the Ohlone dog park and she was rolling around in the grass.

 I was just sitting in the grass watching her roll around. She was loving it and it seemed like she was laughing as she rolled around. haha

We're so happy it's Thursday. Thursday is like a catch up day from the crazy week and on the eve of the weekend. Our plans for the weekend include.....staying put! We want to stay in Berkeley to be around the house, do errands, clean, organize, and stay in town. Hoping to take our bikes out for a spin to find some new stuff around town. 

Theta Time and Lanesplitter

Sunday started off with a trip to the Theta house on UC Berkeley campus. The Theta house was SO nice!

I went to a networking/career day at the Theta house where there were a mix of current students and Theta alumni from various chapters. I met two girls from different schools who graduated in 2008 from the SF Alumni chapter. About sixty girls live in this house and they have a chef, House Mom, and...House Boy. The House Boy is someone who does their maintenance requests and what not. So funny but how lucky they are to have all of that there!!

We met with the students who are interested in similar fields that the alumni currently work in to chat for a little bit. Then, we had lunch together and then there was a speech by one of the alumni. Can you believe kids in college right now were BORN in the 90's!?! There were some alumni there who graduated in the 90's. hah.

After the event, I came home and chilled outside with Erik and Evie. Erik was fussing with the garden and built a flower box out of an old pallet.

Amy came over in the afternoon and Evie was thrilled - two friends and two days!!

We hung out at the house for a little while and then went over to Lanesplitter for pizza. 

They have an outdoor area so we sat out back for pizza. The pizza was ok but we didn't love it and we thought it was overpriced. Everyone raves about this place but we didn't agree. 

It was still great to see Amy and chill out on a Sunday afternoon. 

We had quite the weekend of socializing. We hope to get back to our regularly scheduled organizing and Home Depot shopping next weekend :-)

Moving and Shaking

On Saturday, we were up early to help our friends Betsy & Greg move out of their place in SF to San Mateo. They live on the THIRD floor so we got quite a workout!!

We drove down to their new place to check it out. They are renting a full house with a yard so that is a big departure from SF but it will be great for them!!

When we got home, our friend Kelsey came over. Evie LOVES her so they were cuddling and playing. 

We went out to the Triple Rock Brewery for some dinner. First, we had to get a shot in this huge chair that is just sitting in our neighborhood. haha

We had a good time at dinner, had some beers, and headed home. So fun to see her!!

Berkeley Bowl

 On Friday after work, Erik & I visited a Berkeley institution - Berkeley Bowl. 

Berkeley Bowl is a mix between this hippie co-op store in SF called Rainbow, Safeway, and Whole Foods. They had an amazing produce department and the prices were SO good. Their wines were more expensive than Trader Joe's and their cheese department wasn't that great. They did have a hot food bar, great dairy(Clover milk!) and fish choices. We did realize that we are old if we were browsing a grocery store on a Friday night. haha

We weren't there that long since we got there just before closing. We stocked up on bananas and a few other things including THESE pickles, Um, so good.

After the store, we stopped for burritos at Fresco. Brought them home, watched Californication, and called it a night. Good way to end the week!

Noodle Theory

On Thursday, Erik and I met up with our friends Jenn and Andie for dinner. They live in Oakland and now that we are on the same side of the bay, we wanted to catch up. Jenn is also having a baby soon so we wanted to see them before they are parents!

We went to this YUMMY place called Noodle Theory in Rockridge.

I had this awesome hot and spicy shrimp & veggie noodle bowl. SO good! Rockridge is only 10 mins away from us so it was an easy ride over and a delicious dinner!

Frog's Leap Winery

For our 2nd winery, we went to Frog's Leap Winery. We tried to go here a few years ago without a reservation and it was so packed, we couldn't get in. I loved the look of this winery because it is essentially a big open home with a big outdoor porch. Very different look from many wineries and just seemed like a relaxing place to be. 

We made a reservation for the 2:30 tour that included a tasting. We arrived a little early and were immediately given a glass of wine while we waited. Now that is service!

 There were 8 of us on the tour and it was fun! Our tour guide was young and free flowing with the wine! We learned how the winery makes organic wine and dry farms their wine v. using an irrigation system.

We walked through the vineyards and learned about the company. The owner still works at the winery and his dog roams the grounds. They also have a farm on the land where they raise chickens and grow vegetables. They sell their goods to local restaurants

The wines here were pretty reasonable and we went home with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel. 

What a great day!! It was so warm, sunny, and relaxing. A perfect birthday!!

Silverado Vineyards and Bottega

On Tuesday, Erik took the day off so we could go up to Napa Valley for my birthday! We decided to make two stops at wineries we haven't been to and have a nice lunch. First stop was Silverado Vineyards. Silverado Vineyards are owned by Diane Disney Miller who is Walt Disney's daughter!

It was a beautiful winery with great views. We tried 5 or 6 different wines including a really good $100 bottle of wine that we did NOT purchase :-)

 After our tasting at Silverado, we went to lunch at Bottega. Bottega is the restaurant of chef Michael Chiarello. You may have seen him on the Food Network!

 We had an amazzzzzing lunch. The food was SO good and service was impeccable. All of the food in Napa is so good.

First, we had a sashimi to start. It was served on a giant salt block. 

We also shared this delicious dish of Burrata Primavera layered panzanella of English peas, favas, round carrots, mint with pea tendrils and crisp shallots So good. 

For lunch, I had the beet ravioli filled with cheese in a hazelnut, brown butter sauce. SO good. 

Erik had the Paprika Oil Marinated Grilled Skirt Steak yukon gold potato chips, salsa rossa, arugula

After lunch, we headed over to our second winery....

Birthday Celebration

I took Monday and Tuesday off this week in honor of my birthday and was so glad I did. On Monday, Evie and I lounged in the morning and caught an episode of 7th Heaven. Remember that show!!??

Got some chores done around the house and then stopped by the Emeryville shops and got a manicure. 

I received this SUPER cute flowers from my parents :-)

 On Monday night, we met up with friends at Jupiter Pizza in downtown Berkeley for a birthday celebration!

 Tiffany brought these awesome mini cupcakes

 Betsy & I

 Me, Kelsey, & Tiffany

 Me and Kels

 Me, Sarah, and Nicole

 Me & Kira. She is our East Bay buddy and fellow East Coast girl. 

 Awwwww. Me and Erik. Erik organized the night which was so great of him to wrangle everyone. 

He is the BEST!

Our server came by with a birthday beer with a candle on top!

 After blowing out the candle, she told me the tradition at the restaurant is to race your server to chug the beer. Hahaha. Haven't chugged a beer in a long time but I did it. I lost by just a few sips though. Oh well, it was hilarious!

Really great birthday celebration. So grateful for all of my friends to come to my little party!!