Thanksgiving in San Francisco

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving Day!! We hope everyone had a wonderful, safe holiday. We have so much to be thankful for this year and celebrated our good fortune with a trip to San Francisco and Sonoma County. San Francisco and the wine country is a destination I've been dying to see for years. We left Wednesday night from Phoenix with free upgrades to 1st class thanks to Jason's incessant travel and US Airways points. On Thanksgiving morning we had breakfast at a cafe in Union Square called Mason's Cafe and went to Presidio Park. Presidio is a former army base and connects to Crissy Field where you can catch great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. After a little more wandering around the surrounding neighborhoods, we got our Thanksgiving meal at First Crush...it was delicious!!

Presidio Park:


View of Golden Gate Bridge from Crissy Field


Presidio Neighborhood Park


Camera fun in Union Square on Thanksgiving Day


On Friday, thanks to a deal from my brother Richard, we got a rental car and drove across the Golden Gate bridge and into Sonoma County to see the wine country. We had heard that Napa is a little more commercial, but Sonoma has a smaller atmosphere that features more family owned wineries. We absolutely found that to be true. We had a wine tasting at the Jacuzzi winery, which is owned by the Jacuzzi family, the same family who invented the Jacuzzi tub, among other things. The second winery we went to was Larson Family Winery; we loved it so much we shipped 6 bottles to our house. That night we met a friend I knew in New York, Meredith, who now lives in San Francisco. We hadn't seen each other in about 9 years! We had some Chinese at a local restaurant in her neighborhood and a couple of drinks before calling it a night.





Saturday we walked A LOT...thank goodness I had my comfortable shoes! We started walking through Union Square, saw the Christmas tree, went through Chinatown and ate at Sotto Mare in the Italian neighborhood of North Beach. From there we walked to and UP Lombard Street, the famous windy, VERY steep street.

The windy top of Lombard Street


There were a lot of hilly streets to walk up and down




We had a piece of chocolate in Ghirardelli's original shop, got lost for a bit, wandered through the financial district and finally found our hotel...exhausted! Later that night we again met my friend Meredith for a drink, and then Jason and I had a nice dinner at a French restaurant called L'Ardoise in the Castro District. Probably the best meal of the weekend for me, and a great way to end our trip.

Reunited with Meredith


Overall, we really liked San Francisco. The architecture, varied neighborhoods and people add a lot of flavor to the city, and the restaurants are all excellent (at least the ones we tried). If you visit, we recommend Presidio Park and the surrounding neighborhood, Chrissy Field and walking up Lombard Street. Definitely get a meal at L'Ardoise and take a walk through Chinatown to see the live toads and giant fish for sale. Avoid Fisherman's Wharf area and be prepared to be harassed by San Francisco's homeless population. I think we still prefer the east coast cities of Boston, D.C. etc..., but will settle for the west coast version:) Wine Country is an absolute must and I recommend anyone to take that trip in their lifetime...what a romantic and relaxing way to pass time while surrounded by gorgeous countryside.

Here is a slide show of some more pictures of the trip...


Jason is back on the road again on Tuesday to of all places, California. He'll be in Sunnyvale and then Los Angeles until Friday. Full work of week for me; I also need to finish knitting a baby cap for an expecting co-worker and I'll probably write holiday cards and wrap gifts...can't wait for the next holiday!

XOXO

Update on Maddie

This has been a slower week, so I gathered some different pictures of Maddie we took recently for all those Maddie fans out there. Overall, Maddie is still her same old talkative, social self. She is getting a little more anxious in her old age; we can't leave her alone for more than 2 days or she starts tearing the house up. Luckily, we've got some friends out here who check on her when we're gone. Here is a picture of her in her Clemson bandanna, ready for the game.

I found her one day recently snuggled up with my pajamas on the bed. I can't leave anything on the bed or she'll settle in for a nap.

Her 1st favorite napping spot, Jason's lap

And, my favorite picture, Maddie sneaking into a snack bag of Quavers (crisps Jason brought home from England for me). She can't resist a cheese flavored snack!

Jason was in Delaware this week Sunday - Thursday. I was busy with enrollment; lots of panicked emails / calls / visits from students trying to get into classes. We didn't do much this weekend; I had to work Saturday morning at Discover NAU, talking with prospective students and parents, so we just had dinner Friday night at a pizza place down the street. Saturday we went to a going away party for a woman Jason works with. While we were walking to the party, I snapped this picture of Jason with the mountain in the background. You can see the snow that is already settling in the peaks.


Sunday we just bummed around the house. Not much planned for next week; trying to stay warm, and pumped to put the Christmas tree up next weekend:)

Leaving on a Jet Plane

The Thursday night before Halloween, Jason was finished with the London leg of his trip, safely in Boston, and I was on a red-eye flight to Greenville, SC. Being a red-eye expert now (not sure if that's a good thing) I was able to sleep the entire flight from Phoenix. I met mum and dad at the airport and after a couple cups of coffee I was ready to roll. We hung out around the house and Friday night we went to Spartanburg to watch Tim's game at USC-Upstate. The picture above is the Bailey - Hemmer fan section and here is a picture with me and the soccer stud himself...

and an action shot...

After the game Richard and I went to Clemson and met up with Cheryl, Lashan, Stacy and Malay. Here is a picture with Cheryl and Lashan...

and another with me and Richard...

Saturday morning we tailgated for the Clemson vs. Coastal Carolina Homecoming game. I got to meet Evan, our friends Bryan and Bethany's son..he was a pumpkin for Halloween...can't you see how thrilled he is about the costume??

With Maria and Leslie I watched the Tiger Walk from inside the West End Zone, got to greet my former students as they came in, and got lunch upstairs with Cheech, Lawson and some other former co-workers. Here is Cheech in what may be the most disturbing mask ever...

Clemson won resoundingly and I was able to catch up with my former students some more after the game. Here is one more of Leslie, Maria and I...

Saturday night Tim met Richard and I at my parents house and we spent time together over dinner. I was up the next morning and back on a flight to Phoenix. As always, it was a too short trip, but so great to see my family, friends, and former students who I miss dearly!

Jason came home on Tuesday; it's been nice having him home this week. He's off again on Sunday to Delaware for training, and will be back on Thursday.

I (Jason) got to see the Pats beat the Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium during my trip to London. It was quite a unique experience to be able to see my favorite team play overseas. About 90% of the fans were European, but there was definitely a sizable contingent from New England. The work meetings I attended while in London were successful as well. Here are a couple pics from Wembley.



From London, I flew to Boston for a medical conference. While there, I was able to spend some time with my parents, brother, sister-in-law and niece, Emelie (see pics below).





I was also able to meet up with a few friends from WPI. The conference was a great learning experience from a professional standpoint, and it was nice being able to catch up with friends and family.

This weekend we've been laying low; we went out for Thai food last night and met up with a couple of work friends. Today some people came over to watch football and we're now watching Clemson vs. Florida State. Writing the blog while watching helps me stay calm - ha - Go Tigers!! We're also tracking the NAU game vs. Ole Miss -- right now Lumberjacks are hanging in there -- Go Jacks!!

XOXO