Whirlwind Friends & Kids Tour

Our weekend started on Friday morning, waking up to the subtle sound of foghorns and this gorgeous view from our bedroom window...

Then we embarked on another lightning fast trip to Seattle.  Less than 48 hours, but packed to the brim with a quick family visit, seeing friends, and of course their awesome kids.

Mahoney always looks forward to a trip.  She was ready and waiting for us in her travel bag, anxious to head out and stay with her "grandparents" for the weekend.

We went straight from the airport to a wonderful meal at Staple & Fancy with my parents, where we had the chef's menu.  Yum!

I think this ravioli might have been my favorite dish of the night, filled with pancetta (amongst other things) and cooked perfectly al dente.  We had so many delicious plates and bites.

First stop the next morning (after picking up a car) was to see Holly and Isabella for a bit of coffee and catching up.  It's been way too long, and it was so much fun to meet Isabella.  What an absolute doll!

Next stop- the Baumgartner's.  It's extremely rare that we get to see all 4 of them, so this was such a nice treat.  Another visit that was far too short, but we'll take what we can get.  These kids just melt our hearts....and we love their parents too.  :)

Then we headed even farther east (North Bend), to the Rowley's new home.  It's a lovely home in a friendly neighborhood, with an awesome back yard- absolutely perfect for them!  We had an afternoon of girl time, enjoying the rare Seattle sun on their back deck, some nice cold beverages, and of course doting over baby Emmalee. 

Our Saturday ended with a mini-tour of Ballard bars.  The group included me & Mass, Yuri, Salina, Greg, Kristen, Alex, Kimmie & Kyle.  Our stops: Bad Albert's, Hazlewood, The Market Arms, Hamburger Harry's (to watch the UFC fight), The Shelter, and finally a totally unnecessary (in my opinion) late night stop at Dick's.  ;)
This morning we got up and headed back to SF....pretty exhausted, but so happy to have packed it all in.  It's great to be back home in the city, but we wouldn't trade our time with everyone for anything in the world.

Work, Eat, Work, Eat

....that's all I feel like we do lately!
Maybe I'll have to update my fitness blog with my new favorite Pilates exercises or my latest playlist, I think I'd have more material.
Anyway, here are just a few photos I have on my phone from the last couple of weeks....

We spent a lovely afternoon at Cavallo Point, a beautiful property on the other side of the Golden Gate bridge.  We enjoyed a glass of wine and saw some cool birds.  :)

We continue finding new views of the city....this isn't a great photo, but the beauty of this area doesn't fade.

We had a game night at the Reynold's home.  We learned how to play Sequence....and I hate to admit, but the men won this round.  I'll be practicing my strategy until next time.

And of course it wouldn't be a standard blog without a photo of our favorite little girl....fresh from a day at the groomer.  I would have liked to get a photo of Mahoney with Stan (Carrie & Erik's cat), who happens to weigh twice as much as her, but he wasn't that interested, so maybe next time.  :) 

Weekend Re-Cap

Some thoughts about last weekend in the form of abbreviated highlights~


Thursday:
After teaching at Burn, we had dinner with Serena at Mission Beach Cafe, where her man (and our dear friend) Nate is now the Chef.  Loved everything about it- the ambiance, the food, the service...fabulous.  My faves were the flatbread and the halibut.  Yum!  I enjoy Thursdays like this...love having Serena in my Burn class, having Mass meet up with us on his way home from work, and also getting to see Nate in his element. 


Friday:
Dinner at Umami.  This was probably our 4th or 5th time eating there, but every time we try something new, and each time we still love it.


Saturday:
After teaching my classes at Burn, we had another great Saturday lunch with Mr. & Mr. Reynolds, this time at La Boulange.  Carrie has also become a regular client of Burn and I love it!  It's been really great getting to know these two better since moving to SF.

After lunch, Mass & I finally ran the Lyon steps.  I wondered what all the fuss was about surrounding this staircase, but now I get it.  It was beautiful, and a killer set of stairs.  There are so many amazing homes in that area to gawk at too.


Then an early dinner at Nopa.  Loved this place.  Really cool space, high ceilings, exposed wood beams, good lighting.  We sat at a large communal table in the bar area, had an excellent server, and the food was outstanding.   

Sunday:
Mass had lots of work to do, but somehow we squeezed in a morning class at TRX, a little shopping, then dinner at Capannina.  It was great italian food, but not my favorite place ever.  The salmon and the tiramisu were delicious, and Mass's pasta was perfect, but it's one of those old-school kind of restaurants- laminated menus, small crowded tables covered in table cloths, with too much stuff on the table- wine glasses, candles, flowers, bread basket, etc.  


Hm....weird...once again, 90% of my post is about food & restaurants, but there's so much excellent dining to be done in this city!  


(Unrelated side note- our friends Greg & Kristen got engaged on Saturday night!  So excited and happy for them!)