Must Have

After arriving here in SF yesterday, we decided to make a Target run for some supplies.  While in Colma, we have to stop in at our favorite Mexican restaurant - Estrada's! BeBe, our favorite, was the only waitress and she greeted us with big hugs.  She brought out the margaritas and took 'our usual' order.  Soon after, she arrived bringing us a bowl of guacamole that we did not order - on the house!

That is when I thought - "everyone must have a place where they know your name!"  Yea, like CHEERS - the old tv show!!!! hahaha....We finished our dinner and margaritas and here comes BeBe!! ANOTHER margarita with two straws - on the house! 

We talked to her about her dogs and life....the owner also came over and shared stories of Giants baseball players that would frequent his club. 

The same thing happens when we go to Parma - our favorite Italian place around the block. Angelina and Jolie - sisters - greet us, with big hugs, along with the owner and they really make us feel welcome.

I think everyone needs a place - or two - where this happens.  It is kind of nice! 

 

Food Week

We arrived in SF on Tuesday this week to attend a meeting at the PreSchool.

After a successful meeting, Vasi, David, Alex, Allison (another couple that is very involved in the school) and us went out for some SUSHI!

 This is Alex, and this is what he enjoys:

A little to 'uncooked' for our liking, but he enjoyed it. 

The rest of us enjoyed 'a few' rolls:

Alex also ordered these: 

I don't remember what they are called...but, yes, raw egg and caviar wrapped in seaweed.

David had one or two...but, no, we did not.

Impressive looking to say the least!!

On Friday night, David and Vasi made CRAB for us - with lots of garlic and seasonings! WOW!  Can you say CRAB FEAST!!?

Yes, we run to eat and we eat to run!!

The cabin in the woods!

Taylor was off from school on Friday, February 13 so we headed to Bear Valley ( 8,000 feet) by noon for a weekend at Bob and Anna's beautiful brand new cabin! Only one word can describe the beauty! WOW!!

We left SF after picking up my Valentine gift from the Apple store - an iPhone!! YES!!! I absolutely LOVE IT!

We arrived and parked in the parking lot where others park when they wait for the ski bus to take them up to Bear Valley Ski Resort. Bob picked us up in their snowcat and wisked us up the hill to their cabin - a 10 minute drive. Wow, what a beautiful home! He can build - she can decorate!!

We enjoyed Friday night, all day Saturday and sadly made our departure on Sunday. I actually had a baaaaaaaaaaaad headache the entire time!! I looked online and discovered that I must have had an 'Altitude headache'. It was TERRIBLE! I actually had to lay down during the day - unheard of!! As soon as we drove down the mountain, and arrived at 3,000 feet, my headache was GONE!!

Nevertheless, we had a great time hanging out with both Bob and Anna. They are beautiful people and are blessed beyond words to call them friends. Here are a few pics of the trip!!

The view from our room.

One half of the gameroom. The pool table is on the other side of the wall.

He liked the snow!!

ICICLES!!

After the somersault - and breaking the sled!! We decided that was the last time downhill while all limbs were still working!!

The rest of the pics are in the Web Album link on the right.

Prayers needed

Please pray for these families.

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/108/story/691725.html

Is it really possible?

What does a loving husband give his new apple loving wife for valentine's
Day? An iPhone of course!
We are traveling by car as I type. This is a test to see if I can
Really blog from my phone. If possible, I will be in awe of apple!

The BIG purchase!

As a retirement gift from Malibu Boats - they wanted to give Dick a laptop! So, the decision had to be made..... PC or Mac?
We are PC people! Did we want/dare to take the plunge? After weighing it all out over the past few weeks....we made the PLUNGE!!!
The water is GREAT and I am LOVING our MacBook Pro!! It came with a $100 rebate for a printer too! We also got the Windows Office so documents, spreadsheets and powerpoints are still familiar to us. We also got the One to One - which means we can go to the Apple store - right behind our house in SF - and one of their 'genius' will sit down with us and explain or work with us on anything we want - for one year. This will be very helpful. The people at the store are soooo helpful, nice and SMART!!
Dick has yet to really learn/play on it by himself - we did play for awhile with the photo booth last night - gosh - hillarious! It comes with a camera installed in the screen and the program is similiar to stepping into a 'photo booth' but you can smudge, swirl, mirror, fish eye your photo! It is sooooo funny!!
He will be giving his work laptop back to Malibu soon and then he will be spending more time with it......or maybe he can use the old PC where he is more comfortable..... hahahaha....

One of the coolest parts? The 'mouse pad' works like the iPhone....to maximize and minimize a page of a document, a photo, a website font, you spread out the fingers on the pad!!! Amazing!! Technology is so cool!! It is FAST too!! LOVE IT!!! If you are in need of a new computer soon......TAKE THE PLUNGE!!!! Sorry Microsoft!

Our Successful SHOPPING Day!

We do not shop very often. It is just one of those activities that we do not make the time for, or whatever..... But, we have been given gift cards in the past and they began to STACK up!! So, we made it a priority to SPEND these cards - before the stores go out of business! We decided to head over to Berkeley, make a day of shopping and end at an old favorite fish spot - Spenger's!!

We did not have a card for it, but wanted to take a tour for ideas at IKEA. We pondered, and wandered for awhile. Always fun to look at these 'model' rooms. We are not BIG decoraters so a store like this helps!
Our first stop with a card was BORDERS! We bought 2 books on San Francisco, a book for Taylor and I bought (and already read 3/4 of) The Secret Life of Bees! I am really enjoying my book. It is hard to put down. I highly recommend it!! I have the movie arriving tomorrow in Netflix. Can't wait!

Next stop - Sur La Table - for our cooking needs! Well, we prefer to dine OUT....but, we did need some basics up in SF house. It is somewhat of a joke with us....we have been to this store 2-3 times, wandered around, and could not find a thing!! I was ready to just stand in line with some cocktail napkins and then 'Pay it Forward' and purchase whatever the person behind me was buying - as a treat to that lucky person.....and be done with trying to make a decision!! But, we were able to spend it!! Yea, we did end up buying 3 packages of the cocktail napkins - i love those things!

We had one more card that we needed to spend - Crate & Barrel. We wandered and wandered....I threatened the 'Pay it Forward' scenario....wandered some more....found a few small items....naw, put them back....The card is for $100 and we cannot find anything!! Pathetic! So, we decided that 2 out of 3 were not bad - and called it a day....WHEW! Now that was done, let's EAT!!

Always a FAV!!

This was the BEST Salmon with wild mushroom and asparagus. WOW! Amazing!
I ate the whole thing - and could have eaten MORE!!! YUM!!

Glad we ran 6 miles before shopping!!
It was a great day in the sun of Berkely - finished with a GREAT dinner.

Next, our LARGEST purchase of the day!!! What could it be? I'll create that blog next.....

Did you see it?

We saw Slumdog Millionaire last weekend!
We really enjoyed it! If you get a chance, take the time and see this one! Very well done! Let me know what you thought of it, if/when you do see it.
We hope to see The Reader and Milk before the awards are presented in a few weeks.