Alameda: Walk Down Memory Lane

On the 26th, SMS and I decided to head out and explore.  We had our day of rest after traveling on Christmas Eve from Colorado and it was time to take advantage of what the local area has to offer.  We were going to go to Oakland to roughly follow the recent "36 Hours in..." article from Dec 2015, but when I saw the exit sign for Alameda, a wave of nostalgia hit me and I wanted to check it out.  I had lived in Alameda from 1987-1989 and I wanted to see my old school and the former Navy base.

Almost 30 years later!

St Philip Neri playground

First, we went to St Philip Neri.  I was surprised at how little I remembered in terms of the layout.  Gradually, things became a little clearer as I remembered the march from the classroom to the Hall where we had our square dancing classes (really!).  I also remembered the playground in vivid detail once I saw it from a certain corner.  The games of tag, hopscotch and my terrible attempts at tetherball made the playground indelibly etched in my mind.  One thing that really surprised me though was how small everything seemed.  I've heard of people talking about the perspective change in size between childhood and adulthood, but this was the first vivid example for me with respect to a place.

As SMS said, not the type of van you want across the street from a school!

Another view

Back gate, totally open!

Old house!

We headed over to the base, although I'd like to head back at some point and check out the historic Alameda movie theater and Park St shopping district.  We drove through the housing area and I managed to remember how to get to our old house.  It was still there (it was rumored to be condemned after the 1989 earthquake).  I was really surprised at how derelict everything looked.  Nothing looked unsafe but everything was so rundown and dingy- peeling paint, dirty houses, tons of stuff piled up.  It was a definite contrast to 30 years ago and pretty amazing to me that things can change so quickly.  I also looked at the tree in the front yard and I think it's too big to climb on now.  Back in the day, it was the perfect climbing tree and we were in it all the time!

Slightly different signage than the 80s.

View from the patio of Rock Wall Winery

We headed over to the old squadrons and the runway, which is now a protected bird habitat.  The hangers are mainly commercial businesses now, focussed on booze.  There's the Faction brewery, where we had a sampler before going on a tour of St. George's, a artisanal distillery.

At the brewery, the sampler was delicious and the coffee stout was the best I ever had.  We picked the brewery because we were hoping the corn dog stand would open but we were disappointed since the set-up was taking them awhile.

Entrance for St. George.  I love the sign under Visitors.

We went over to St. George's where we went on one of the best tours I've ever been on.  Our tour guide's name was Andie and she was so well-spoken, informative, hilarious and very quick on her feet with witty responses and serious answers to questions that came up along the tour.  I was super impressed at her tour guide skill!

Safety first- I agree!

SMS had a sampler flight and I had a few micro-sips.  The spirits are excellent and the gins are delicious and super-flavorful and herby.  The pear liquor was probably my favorite and one I'd buy on another day.

The masher

The still

Our day was cut a little short in regards to making it to Oakland so we decided to head home and save Oakland for another day...like the next one!

Christmas!

Our Christmas Tree!

SMS started our Christmas 2015 with a special Christmas Eve dinner request- Peking Duck!  We went to the Dim Sum restaurant on Castro and had a delicious Peking Duck dinner along with Wonton Soup.  It was really delicious.  The place was packed but we got our dinner in a reasonable amount of time.  It sounded like there were some other, unhappy diners but we were pretty set and definitely happy with our meal.

Christmas morning came and I was super-spoiled by SMS.  I had put my Garmin back under the tree and I also got a Narwal t-shirt and It Is Right to Draw Their Fur: Animal Renderings by Dave Eggers.  I also got a Santa Hat!  For SMS, I got a hiking hat with extra neck sun protection, Kona coffee and a "vintage" Japanese beer poster.  He's hard to shop for and I try to take notes during the year.  Currently, we're eying a super-chunky wool blanket so maybe we'll have a big joint New Year's present!

After Christmas morning and some breakfast, we hung out during the day.  We went out to Eagle Park to fly our drones.  That was a lot of fun!  It really is so fun to have a toy to play with on Christmas, even as an adult!

Cool, 3D glasses...so hipster!

That evening, we went to see the new Star Wars in 3D.  It was pretty good.  I enjoyed the references to the original trilogy and I'm slightly enthralled by the "Who are Rey's parents?" theories.  I'm not sure that I need to see it again but I will definitely see the next movie when it comes out!

Family Christmas in Steamboat Springs!

Steamboat, so gorgeous!

SMS and I just returned from an amazing family trip in Steamboat Springs!  For the past several years, my family tries to meet up for a destination Christmas vacation.  For having six people plus significant others, we do pretty well in all getting together.  It doesn't always work and this year, unfortunately, Joe didn't make it but for one of the best reasons of all.  He and his wife are now proud parents to their beautiful baby boy who was born a little over a week ago.

Torchlight Parade

The rest of us toasted their good fortune.  We had an incredible time in Steamboat Springs and I'm sad it's over!  SMS and I flew in Sat, 12/19 and we all went to the slopes to see the torchlight parade and fireworks.  For the "torchlight" parade, the ski/snowboard instructors went down the mountain holding a flare in each hand.  It was pretty cool-looking and the emcee was pretty hilarious in his deadpan, Captain Obvious, possibly Colorado Cannabis-affected statements- "They're almost here....almost here...as it gets brighter, they're getting closer...when you can see them, they can see you..."  Anyway, not very funny when it's typed out but it was a little funny at the time.

Dad carving the lamb, yum!

Mom made several feasts for the family and it was spectacular to be fed so well.  Dinners included Bubba burgers, chicken enchiladas, beef stew in double-cooked mashed potato bowls (incredible), Hungarian Chicken with egg noodles and an incredible "Christmas Eve" lamb dinner.  Lunch was sandwiches and homemade soup.  SMS and I went back on two of the four ski days and it was tasty and warming.  It was completely wonderful.  My favorite was the homemade chicken soup- yum!  I would be getting hungry as I type this but I think I'm still stuffed!

Ed, Meg and Dad.  Not that you can tell, but I promise it's them!

The focus was mainly on skiing and snowboarding (sister!), which was pretty intense!  The first day of skiing was Sunday 12/20 and it was close to a bluebird day although clouds moved in later in the day.  After that, game on!  It snowed approximately 2.5 feet in the next three days.  The snow varied in intensity, but overall, became stronger as the three days went by.  There were near blizzard conditions at the top yesterday with high winds but overall, the winds weren't too bad and the daytime temps were in the 20s and low 30s.  The low winds were key for pleasant lift rides.

SMS and I!

All of the powder made for some incredible skiing.  The mountain is huge and I think I made it to only a third of the runs.  The blue-blacks were my favorite because of the small moguls which added some nice texture to the runs.  Blacks were very mogul-y and double blacks mainly consisted of tree chutes.  The difficulty level was based mostly on mogul and tree presence it seemed.  I didn't see any runs that were overly steep and scary although every time I looked back, I was pretty impressed at the amount of trail behind me.

My favorite run was on the last day when I was on "See Me" and cut through to "Vagabond" through a field of knee-high powder.  It was unreal.  I had so much fun and really, these past four days were the best skiing of my life, conditions-wise.  I felt I skied pretty well, but I'm starting to get a tiny bit slower.  SMS had a great ski experience- we think all the roller skating really helped with his speed and balance.  Not that it was bad before but he was a speed demon and mogul aficionado this trip!

SMS and I also had fun night-skiing on the second night we were there.  The trails were well-groomed and almost empty.  The runs were beautiful glides and turns all the way to the bottom.  I'm so glad we tried it but the best was skiing with family.  We did a pretty good job of meeting up throughout our days there.  Dad bought walkie-talkies that were actually really helpful and a lot of fun to use.

Last night, we had our "Christmas Eve" with an awesome gift exchange.  I cheated and wrapped up a few travel presents from our Spring Thailand trip but don't worry, we got everyone real gifts too!  Brady, SMS and I went in on a Garmin for Dad.  I also wrapped up a book I had for awhile that I thought he would like, Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan.  Initially, I wrapped it in with the Garmin but I thought it might give him a complex.  Mom got bath bombs and Brady got an Angor Wat temple book with overlays that imagine the original splendor over the current ruins.

Mom gave us our stockings which was really sweet and nostalgic.  The detail is incredible and the stockings bring back so many awesome memories.  Mom and Dad also got us little flying drones and everything stopped for about 10 minutes while we played with them.  I haven't had such a fun toy experience like that in years!  The girls also received really pretty earrings from the National Gallery of Art and a new ballerina jewelry stand.  Ed and Meg got me a Corkcicle Canteen, which is one of Oprah's Favorite things, which is awesome since they now live in Chicago where Oprah is a very big deal (is there anywhere she's not?).  Brady got me the Alabama Shakes album (yeah!) and Brain on Fire, which is a memoir I've been wanting to read for awhile.

Overall, Christmas 2015 has been incredible and I feel really lucky and happy to have such an amazing family!

Even our falls are amazing!

Leaving Steamboat, very early

Anchors Away!

SMS and I had a great weekend. On Friday, we went to Shiva, a local Indian restaurant that was delicious!  I had been eyeing it for awhile but had read somewhat mixed reviews. SMS likes being more spontaneous and not as review-dependent. Either way, we both wanted to go and it was awesome. I won in the ordering department that night since I got a delicious palak paneer with lumps of delicious paneer. SMS' was also good but the paneer was pressed out and cut into triangles, which we didn't like as much. His dish was a honeyed tomato sauce which was good but not as yummy as the palak. We also ordered bread and I had a masala tea. 

The next day, Jyostsna and I met up for our 18 mile long run. I felt pretty good through the whole run and I'm really happy with how our training is progressing. 

Afterwards, there was no time to sit on the couch because it was time to rally and go on our tour of Anchor Brewery. I booked our tickets awhile back and the tour was excellent. The factory is amazing and quite small for its output. The beer is made in three large boilers with each boiler sequentially used for a separate stage of  the process. The boilers are copper and apparently can cycle through 5-6 batches a day, although that makes for a very long day. 

Afterward, we tried six of the beers including Anchor Steam, California Ale, Liberty Ale, a double IPA from the Argonaut collection, a dark Winter Wheat and the Christmas Ale (41st year). There's one I'm leaving off but I misplaced my tasting list.

Carb-repleting!

Afterwards, we walked up Potrero Hill, which led to pretty views of the city. We tried walking to the Dogpatch area but I got a little turned around so that was a fail.

A secret path!

We went to Japantown where I had planned to try Yamada ramen but the line was long and we started talking about Chinese pulled noodles. So, off we went to Inner Richmond to San Dong Best. We ordered the same beef stew with pulled noodles and it was really good and really filling. I also placed an order of dumplings that were also pretty standout.

I love noodles!  Also, they make dumplings in the window (see background).

Sunday was pretty mellow. I read some chapters from the textbook I had just ordered.  I also made some cookies for a blog bake-off and a work cookie Exchange. I also took a long nap. It was a perfect lazy Sunday on a cool, gray, rainy day.

Delicious Christmas Cookies!

Weekend, weekend!

This weekend was pretty nice.  SMS and I did a lot, but at the same time, it was all local and didn't feel particularly rushed.  It was just a really pleasant, overall relaxing weekend.

R&W Estate Vineyard

 On Friday, I went to my book club meeting.  We had read Pretty Girls, which I do not recommend at all.  The only reason why I even read it at all is this is the first book club I've belonged to where people actually read the book.  Pretty Girls is in the genre of sex crimes mystery/thriller and I just think it's kind of a gross genre.  I don't watch those types of TV shows either.  I know there are horrible things in the world, but I don't find them as a source of fictional entertainment.  I'm not trying to sound holier-than-thou (and I did read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, that was a huge trend a few years back), but it's just a genre I don't like.

Anyway, book feelings aside, it was a great club meeting.  We each write two questions- one book related and one not- and then put them in a bucket and draw them out.  On Friday, we also had a White Elephant gift exchange, which focused on nicer gifts rather than sad-sack gifts that no one really likes (which I think is what a White Elephant is about).  Anyway, I brought an awesomely funny mug that got stolen once, a key sign that the gift is awesome.  I had a wine glass stolen from me that said "Treat Yo' Self" and I ended up picking the last present.  Karma has rewarded me for all the bad presents I've brought in the past because it wasn't that great- a bunch of samples from The Face Shop in a cute tin.  However, the samples are still cool and I will use the tin for my work's upcoming cookie exchange so still, winner!

UC Berkeley's Sather Tower, too early on a Saturday morning

On Saturday, SMS was going to meet up with a "friend" to go rock climbing but the guy is turning out to be an A+ flaker.  Hopefully, SMS will meet other climbing partners soon.  I had to head up to Berkeley for a 7 am (ugh!) meeting and PRT with the NROTC unit.  I like the staff up there and I had a great run.  It's fun being the old lady and still beating a fairly sizable portion of the other, younger runners.  Comparatively, I didn't do as well as other PRTs that I've run b/c this one had several recent USNA male grads who are in very good shape and take the run seriously.  One guy even had his Theristick out, rolling out his muscles before the run.  Keep in mind, the run is 1.5 miles.  I ran it in 10:15 and the fastest guy ran it in about 8 minutes, I would guess.  

After the run, I headed into work and drilled some temporal bones in the lab for awhile. It's nice to practice and reinforce some anatomy lessons and relationships.  I got a text from SMS and we were invited to a party by the neighbor.  I stopped at the store to buy crescent roll dough and hotdogs for excellent pigs-in-a-blanket.  Not super elegant but definitely super delicious!

The party was a lot of fun.  Most people were from an electric car start-up so there stories were interesting, especially since a lot of them knew each other from the UK and working on Lotuses.  There were also some other start-up people and it was just really a lot of fun to talk to such a different crowd.  Everyone was super nice and mingle-y and it was a great party.  The food highlight for me, apart from my own, was homemade pork-and-cabbage dumplings with homemade dough.  Sagoy!  They were so good!

Mile 11 was our last RP mile, which was 7:57.

Yesterday, I went for my weekly long run with Jyotsna, my excellent training partner.  We went for 16 miles with 6 miles at race pace in the middle, which we ran even faster than race pace.  Our 6 miles ranged from 7:54-8:16.  We were very happy with ourselves and how we felt.  I felt like I was pushing myself but not hurting myself so that's good!

I like to pretend this is my home ;)

After the run, I felt a little wiped but SMS and I decided to head up to R&W's holiday party.  We sampled some wine, listened to bluegrass and took in the incredible view.  Afterwards, we went to San Pedro Market and had some tacos as we watched the nail biter end to the Panthers-Saints game.

Merry Christmas!  Maybe not Christmas Card worthy with the lighting, but still festive!

So, it was a pretty great weekend and with a few parties thrown in, it feels like the holidays.  I tried to decorate last night but I fear I pulled a Clark Griswold and ended up shorting out several strings of lights.  Hmmm, will have to try again (putting up lights, that is, not shorting them!).

Even dogs in Silicon Valley are smarter than you

Gobble, gobble: Thanksgiving in San Diego!

In the San Jose Airport, ready to go!

Time to celebrate Thanksgiving, the secular eating fest where a turkey is sacrificed on the alter of gluttony!  Rejoice and be glad!!!

SMS and I decided to head down to San Diego for Thanksgiving so we could spend some holiday QT with his family.  We headed down on Thursday morning and were picked up by Linda and Rip.  We headed over to the house and were joined shortly thereafter by SMS' grandfather Marty and his lovely girlfriend Pam.  We hung out and had a great time talking throughout the afternoon.  I tried to have a semblance of manners and talked about things other than how excited I was for Thanksgiving dinner and was it time to eat!?!?!?!  With my inner Piggly-Wiggly under reasonable control, our party expanded when SMS's sister and her husband arrived.

About an hour or two later, it was time to sit down for the feast.  We had turkey, stuffing/dressing, mashed sweet potatoes, rolls, kale salad and cranberry.  It was all pretty delicious.  Afterwards, we had three kinds of pie and yes, I managed to sample them all.  The apple crumble pie was pretty good but for tradition's sake, I think I'll crown the pumpkin pie as my personal favorite.

SMS in Cafe Calabria

On Friday, Linda, Pam, SMS and I made the slightly ill-considered decision to brave the crowds of Black Friday at the 32nd St Exchange.  While we got a few good deals, the line-waiting (done mainly by St. SMS) was pretty excessive and I think we were all glad to get out of there!  Getting out of there was also nice because it meant we headed home and had Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches, yay!

That night, we met up with family sans Marty and Pam to eat at Davanti Enoteca.  It wasn't bad but I feel like it was better in the past.  It was fun to hang out though and I got to enjoy Aperol Spritzes, which is a fine beverage!

Del Mar, at the turn-around point

On Saturday, I headed up to Cardiff to do my 13 mile long run after stopping at Cafe Calabria for a coffee.

I started on my old 4-mile loop to downtown Encinitas and then ran along the 101 just past the Del Mar dog park and back.  It was a gorgeous day and amazing run.  I'm so happy I got to run such a scenic route.  Because I was hungry, I stopped in at the Seaside Market to buy some Cardiff Crack (burgundy marinated tri-tip) for dinner. I also stopped in at VG's Donuts and bought some buttermilk bites.  Delicious!

I got back home, showered and then headed out to Mission Gorge with SMS.  We went rock-climbing with our friends Eric and Angela and had a great afternoon.  To be honest, I was frustrated a little bit at my lack o'skill but mostly because I was additionally handicapped by ill-fitting shoes that were simultaneously too big to get a good hold but still able to hurt my toes.  Whah!  *pout, pout*  But, overall, it was a great, social afternoon and even though I didn't get the best climbing day in, I felt like I had checked my "active self" box due to my run in the morning.

On Saturday night, John and Grace came over and we ate the Cardiff Crack which Rip BBQ'd up beautifully.  It was so amazingly good.  We also drank a lot of wine and cabernet sauvignon goes very well with Cardiff Crack, in case you came to read this blog for food-wine pairing tips.

Ladies who brunch.  

Sunday was our last day in San Diego but we had a pretty full day.  SMS hung out with his friend Oscar while I headed out to brunch at the Patio on Goldfinch with some of my SD friends.  A big group of us used to go out for brunch and even though we've lost a few members to moves, we had a great time catching up and eating a delicious breakfast.

Afterwards, I went to the Miramar PX to buy a Sonicate toothbrush head (highlight of the weekend) and then headed over to my former co-resident's house where he, his wife Erin and I shot the breeze for a little while.  It was nice to catch up on San Diego ENT gossip and also just catch up in general since it had been about two years since we've seen each other.

Then, I headed back to Rip and Linda's where we all hung out until it was time to go back to San Jose.  It was an incredible weekend and I didn't want it to end!

The internet has lost its mind...

From Nordstrom.com's sale

There are a lot of terrible and/or insane things in our world today.  These shorts are not the weightiest or most important of things but who, on this good earth, would buy these shorts from anywhere other than a clearance rack in a local thrift store?  $236.98, amazing.  Maybe that's the number of pennies in the pockets of these sad, weighed down shorts.  The elastic waist, the shapeless hips, the length, the FRAYS!!!!!