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!!!!!

Weekend Fun: Part 2, Pinnacles National Park

View from the High Peaks

On Sunday, we woke up in our awesome hotel and packed up quickly.  We were off to Pinnacles National Park for an awesome day of being outside and hiking!  We hadn't brought climbing gear but we thought it would still be a pretty good day.

Before we left Monterey, we stopped at Caffe Trieste for breakfast.  It was pretty good.  The portions were huge, though.  I like getting my money's worth but I hate wasting food.  It's hard to combine safe food handling and doggy bags when traveling so there were a lot of breakfast potatoes that went into the trash!

On Juniper Canyon Trail

Pinnacles was a little over an hour away and we drove to the West entrance.  We stopped at the Visitor's Center where I got an annual park pass for free, courtesy of the military discount.  Score!  I looked around the small center for a bit but SMS and I were getting a little antsy.  We drove into the Chaparral parking lot and decided to hike the 8.4 mile High Peaks to Balconies Cave Loop.  We set off along the Juniper Canyon loop which took us to the beginning of the High Peaks trail.  We took the "Steep and Narrow" trail since that one was reported to have better views.

About to enter the cave!

The rock formations were pretty epic.  They were so large and the rocks were starkly outlined against the bright blue sky.  It was a gorgeous day.  We spoke with a guy near the top of the Peaks who was holding an antenna that looked like it belonged on the roof of a house for an old TV.  He was tracking condors as a volunteer.  Apparently, there are just over 400 condors in existence, ~200 in the wild and ~200 in a captivity breed and release program.  This is up from a low of 22 in the early 1980s.  There are about 70 condors between Pinnacles and Big Sur.  We didn't see any but it was cool to hear about the condors and conservation efforts from someone actively involved.  I also learned about the differences between California condors and turkey vultures in flight but that knowledge also went unused since we didn't see any turkey vultures either.

Outside of the Cave

After traipsing through the High Peaks, we walked along the Old Pinnacles trail, which was about as wild as a gravel bike path.  This took us to the Balconies caves, which were pretty awesome.  It starts out in a slot canyon and then we actually climbed through a short cave system that had some vertical climb and a few really dark places.  Flashlights were definitely required.

I am strong like a rock climber too!

After the caves, we saw some climbers, which made SMS very happy.  It looked like the climbing was better than the reputation of the place gave credit for.  It may be too hard for me but I suspect SMS will be back!  The climbing was only 0.6 miles away from the parking lot so it would be a great place for a day trip.

After the hike, we got in the car and started driving home.  I was really hungry so we stopped in Gilroy for burgers.  I had the most delicious burger and sweet potato fries at Cafe 152.  I got the burger in a lettuce wrap and even though that's one of the saddest ways to eat a burger, it was still amazing.  If you're in Gilroy (outlets anyone?), a stop at Cafe 152 would be well worth it.

Then it was time to hit the road and head home.  I was so tired that night after such a great, active day!

Weekend Fun: Part 1, Santa Cruz and Monterey

Mural in Monterey

It had been a few weekends since SMS and I went on a local day trip so I decided that this weekend, we would explore the South of us.  I love the area North of San Francisco, but sometime the traffic through the city can be a real pain.  High on my list is to enjoy Stinson beach again, Bodega Bay, Sonoma and, on a more extended trip, the Lost Coast and Humboldt.

Regardless, I knew that there were beautiful places to the South so I made a reservation at the NGIS on the Monterey Naval Base and we headed out on Saturday morning after my 15 mile long run with J.  By the way, our average pace was 8:34 and for the first 11 miles, we were 8:14-8:36. Yeah!  By the end of training, I'm hoping to be able to cruise at about 8:20 and with our training plan, I think that's a  reasonable target.

SMS and I hit the road.  Our first stop was Santa Cruz since shortly after we started driving, SMS said, "We should start thinking about lunch soon."  I'm working on my wife skills (level: advanced beginner) and I now know that this means, "We need to eat.  Preferably now.  Maybe soon but this is not preferred."

Cafe Brasil

So, with the aid of my trusty iPhone, I found Cafe Brasil in Santa Cruz.  It's a small, bright green building with yellow trim house that serves up delicious breakfast and lunch items.  I got an omelet- a little boring but hey, there's always next time.  When I go back, I think I will order the beef a cavalo, which looked amazing.  In addition, the acai bowls seemed awesome, albeit huge!  SMS got a fresh cherry-orange juice, which was so refreshing.  I definitely recommend this place and it was pretty popular.  We had a short wait and then had great seats on their patio in the warm sun.

NGIS, Monterey

NGIS/Hotel Del Monte Ballroom

After lunch, we went straight to the NGIS.  It ended up being super cool because it's in the old Del Monte Hotel, the first resort in Monterey and, possibly, the West Coast.  It was a grand building with super high, ornately carved ceilings, a huge receiving room and an enormous ballroom.  It was absolutely beautiful and such a treat to have such a cool place to stay.  I had no idea when I booked it.  The room was quite nice with high ceilings, a large window with a beautiful view and a comfortable bed.  I highly recommend this place!

Old Sardine Factory

Sunset, Picture Idea from SMS

We headed into downtown for dinner.  First, we drove to the Presidio to try and find a nice viewpoint, without much success.  We walked along the Cannery Row waterfront as the sun was setting, which was scenic.  Then, even though it was early, we went to Hula's Island Grill, which was awesome!  We walked by it, it looked good and there was a happy hour special!  We got several appetizers to share, including a delicious ceviche.  I'm not sure if the white fish was tilapia but I didn't want to know since I've been a little grossed out every since watching a report on farmed tilapia.  My main takeaway point from the report was that they live in over-crowded poop water.  Blech.  Anyway, sorry for that, but just to let you know, ignorance was bliss at Hula's because the ceviche was good.

The menu was extensive and looked amazing.  Other people's food also looked amazing so I think this restaurant is a pretty solid choice if you're ever in Monterey.  We also passed a French Bistro that I would like to try in the future but at least on a Saturday, reservations are a must.

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel.  We thought about seeing the Hunger Games movie, but I haven't seen Mockingjay, Part I yet so that was out.  It was a really relaxing evening and we decided that the next day, we were going to head out to Pinnacles National Park for a hike!

Sporty weekend!

Last weekend, I was a little bit more sporty than usual.  On Saturday, I went to the Mountain View Running club meet-up, which is always a lot of fun.  It's an easy 5K with a nice Starbucks hangout time at the end.

I cut it a little bit short because SMS and I went to the Old Pro in Palo Alto to watch the Williams vs. Amherst football game.  I met some new alums and saw a classmate of mine.  It was one of the better alumni events I've been to.

Afterwards, SMS wanted to go for a walk to bask in the sun.  We ended up walking over to Menlo Park and back, exploring the neighborhood and enjoying the day.  We also stopped into a running store and tried out the different fascial release/self-massage devices.  They were awesome, especially this one.

On Sunday, I met up with J to do our 13 mile long run.  It felt ok.  I need to eat more carbs and drink more water.  After Thanksgiving, my Whole 30 will be over and I can start eating more grains and runner friendly carbs.   I'm doing some reading on long runs and trying to strike a balance between getting the miles in, not pushing too hard and trying to up our pace a little bit so that we meet our pacing goals next March.

After my run, SMS and I went to the rock climbing gym because his plans were rained out by an early morning downpour.  I'm enjoying rock-climbing even though I was better when we were in San Diego.  I'm ok with being an amateur dabbler in that sport though!