Erika's Birthday Extravaganza

My friend and partner in crime Erika came for a visit as her 33rd birthday was rapidly approaching, and she decided to celebrate with a bang by eating and drinking her way through this fantastic city of ours.  

The birthday girl

After circling the airport and stalking baggage claim to find her since her flight was delayed due to another spring snow storm in Denver, (when was the last time you picked up someone from the airport without a cell phone?  Another story.) and then learning the many facets of Fancy Feast cat food (again, another story), we were off to the Mission for dinner at Maverick.

For starters the "Meat at Maverick". 

 It has been determined that I am officially not a big fan of sopressata.  I don't care how pretty you try to make it on the plate.  

Then, the short ribs and paparadelle with mushroom ragu in the background.  Deelish!  

And don't even get me started on the wine!  (A Donkey and Goat, anyone??)

Wandering around the Mission on a Friday night, we decided to pop into the Elbo Room.  I made a beeline to the back of the bar, as a photo op was awaiting us...

I know that first shot looks a little questionable, but that was my terrible attempt at channeling Sophia Loren. 

The weather was amazing, so the next day we decided to round up a couple of cruiser bikes for a jaunt over to Tiburon.  Erika had the wild idea to take out the tandem.  NOT a good idea.  After a few trials and tribulations, and laughing so hard we practically needed a change of pants, we opted for our own bikes.  Phew!

We started out smiling, because we didn't really know what we were in for. 

The map of our journey

The trusty steed

Many Kodak moments to be had along the way

T. lovin' the ride

Once we made it to Tiburon, we had lunch on the patio at Guaymas.  Hands down the best tamale I have ever had....ever!

The chips n' guac were not too shabby either!

Erika enjoying the sun

Downtown Tiburon

We made it home before sunset, and just in time to catch the fog rolling in.

Erika's best senior photo pose.

The next day we had planned to go sea kayaking, but alas, we felt that we had plenty of exercise the day before, so we decided to go shopping!  We tore it up on Union Street and then rounded out the day with a late lunch in the sun at the Crab Shack.

We did not go wrong with the mussels and champagne!

And there's always room for one more big birthday glass o' wine!

Happy birthday my friend!!  Here's to many more celebrations together!  Until next time.....

Dream Your Dream

So, I am on The Ladders mailing list, as I am keeping my options open in the never ending quest to reach my full potential. Occassionaly Marc Cenedella, CEO of said website makes an attempt to send you something inspirational as a gentle reminder to get off of your ass and make something happen. Today, this one spoke to me.....

Let me set the scene.

You're a dowdy 47-year-old from Northern England. "Never been married, never been kissed." No love in your life. No job. No luck.

But you have a gift within you. And you know it.

And you've somehow managed to make your way onto a TV Show called "Britain's Got Talent" and you are now standing on a national stage.

The crowd is hooting with derision. That smarmy judge on the left is snickering at you. Simon Cowell is rolling his eyes. Everybody is pretty much certain that "little old you" is going to crash and burn in a way that will be hilarious to all.

You've "never been given a chance before." And it's pretty easy for everybody to understand why. You're an odd-looking lady from the North. They are serving you up to the laughing wolves for the sake of the television audience. This is going to be funny.

What do you do?

What do you do?

Well, if you're my new personal hero Susan Boyle, you wrap your two hands around the microphone and slowly focus and...

Then you sing your song to the rafters. Your lift your voice to the heavens. You give a life-defining performance, and you sing an audience of millions into tears.

You hit your high note and bring a lump to the throat of the judges.

You bring the audience to their feet and watch as they realize they can't possibly reach their hands high enough in the sky to applaud you.

You inspire a planet.

You knew you had the gift within you. You just needed to be given a chance, that's all you ever wanted.

And when you got your chance, you shined brighter than any starlet or supermodel ever could.

I know I've learned a very important lesson from Susan Boyle this morning...

Dream Your Dream.

Dog Days of Summer

Well, maybe not dogs, and it's not quite summer, but there were definitely burgers!  We have had amazing weather all weekend, and the heat wave continued today.  It was 93 degrees in the city!  Nothing gets us more excited than warm weather on our deck, since it is usually so rare, (like a good burger) so we decided to have the inaugural meal on the grill.  If this keeps up, tomorrow we may be doing up some chicken!  

Happy Birthday Brett!

Birthday greetings going out to our pal Brett!  Here's to many more beers, beaches and bus rides!  Cheers!  

Happy Anniversary Keeleys!

Congrats to the Peanut and her husband of one year!  Looks like marriage has been treating you guys well!  We will be sure to have a glass of champagne for you!  Cheers!

Santa Cruzin'

It was a beautiful day Saturday, so we took a little drive south to Santa Cruz.  First, a stop in Pescadero at Duarte's Tavern for a piece of Olallieberry pie.  

It was far too nice out to sit inside at the bar (even for us), so we headed to the beach with pie in hand.

Aforementioned Olallieberry pie, actually in hand.

P. pleasantly surprised with how fantastic the pie was.  

A very windy day brought out the kite surfers.  I am still determined to try this!

I was tempted to stay to catch the Del Mar midnight movie. 

A Guinness to round out the day before the drive home.  

Happy Birthday Anneke !!!!

Champagne wishes from Monkey and The Frog. Enjoy your trip to Malaysia and Singapore!!! We're jealous!!!!

Good Morning!

View of Angel Island at 6:43 AM

It is rare that I am awake early enough to catch the sunrise, but this morning was a beauty! Roberta Gonzales said it was supposed to rain, and I was beginning to doubt her, but.....

San Francisco waking up in the distance

....it looks like she was right:

Same view, same island at 10:05 AM

Magic Hour in Mill Valley

The weather has been fantastic lately and we just love Spring!! We managed to pull out another win in our bocce league and can almost taste the Nielsen trophy for bocce ball champions! Not to mention, to be the champion of the Spring league has become highly coveted, as the winners can display their win proudly in the Sausalito 4th o' July parade!

After our win against the Pirates of Sausalito (which makes our record 3-1, and we are currently tied for 1st place!) we took a drive to Mill Valley to celebrate our friends Rob and Devon's new house. A fantastic place with beautiful views of Mt. Tam!

This pic doesn't quite do it justice.  

Then we went for a bite at Maria Maria, for some deelish Mexican food and a few (too many) cocktails!  It was also just Devon's birthday, so a few of those cocktails were extra festive! (i.e. tequila was involved)

The birthday girl

The boys

Erin in need of another margarita, and Shar just can't get enough of the chips n' salsa.

And I just can't get enough of this little guy!