Welcome Thomas Johnny Rogers!

Before I rehash the incredible weekend, I have to tell you that Joyce and Stephen (Nick's sister and brother-in-law) gave birth today to a son named Thomas Johnny at 2:40pm London time. We're so happy for them and can't wait to meet the little baby in September!
Here's a short video of the little guy:


An indulgent weekend
Saturday we finally got our bicycles out of the garage and headed over to Golden Gate Park to explore (and burn some calories in preparation for the weekend of eating). The park is truly an oasis in the middle of the city. We toured the Conservatory of Flowers (which was more plants, less flowers) where we saw banana trees, vanilla vines, cocoa pods, and allspice plants. We walked through the rose gardens where they grow dozens of varieties of roses and the smell is so wonderful it makes you dizzy. We found a donut shaped lake where you can rent peddle boats and row boats. We saw the Japanese tea gardens with their manicured zen gardens, lilly ponds, and tea house. We rode by picnic fields and lawn bowling, tennis courts, and a baseball diamond. There is too much for one day, so we will definitely be back.

Okay, on to the food. Saturday night we had reservations at an intimate little restaurant in Nob Hill called Masa's. A colleague of Nick's had given us a gift certificate as a welcome to San Francisco gift. The atmosphere was very nice - subdued and elegant, and the 6 course tasting menu we ordered was very good, though it didn't entirely live up to the bar set by the amuse bouche of butterbean soup with olive oil froth served to us as soon as we were seated. The soup was so delicious (though given it's main ingredients had to be butter and cream, that's probably not a difficult task to accomplish) that about 3/4 of the way through the rest of the meal, Nick asked for round 2. The other course that was memorable was the filet of beef with bordelaise sauce and maitaki mushroom. Neither of us eats mushrooms, but because this one wasn't shaped in the traditional mushroom way, we accidentally took a bite and oh my God, was it good. The filet melted in your mouth and the sauce was a perfect accompaniment. The most interesting thing about the restaurant is that it is haunted by this unsolved murder that happened to the head chef and owner back in 1984.

On Sunday we tried out a new church in Pacific Heights - this time a Presbyterian one. It was very similar to the style I grew up with in Maryland and I really enjoyed it. Afterwards I dropped Nick off at home and drove down to Palo Alto to meet Meaghan for some shopping. 25 miles away and the weather was 15 degrees warmer, so I got my fix of summer to last me a few more weeks. The mall is described as a "playground for the Silicon Valley millionaires", so needless to say it was more window shopping than real shopping, but it was fun just the same.

Sunday night we met some friends of Nick's parents at a restaurant in the Ferry Building called the Slanted Door. They call it Vietnamese fusion and between the organic meats and fresh vegetables, the complex flavors, and the view of the bay, I really don't think it gets much better than this. The food was so wonderful that we made reservations for this coming Friday when Serge and Laureen will be here visiting. The last time that Seta and Samir saw Johnny and Nahia was in the early 80's in Saudi Arabia, but they treated us like they've known us forever and we had a wonderful time.

I love this city.

It's official - I'm a Californian

Nick dropped me off this morning for round 2 at the California DMV in downtown San Francisco to take my written driving test for my driver's license and I passed (woo hoo!) with 100% right. I was pretty impressed with myself considering that another member of my family (who shall remain nameless) missed the maximum amount allowed to still pass. You can take a sample test here if you're totally bored. It's not as easy as you'd think it would be for someone who has been driving for over 15 years. When you've had 4 glasses of wine, does it really matter if you're blood alcohol is .05%, .08%, or .10%? After I turned in my test, they took my Virginia drivers license and punched a hole through it to indicate that it is no longer valid. I'm going to miss that license - I think it was the best picture that's ever been taken of me.

I started taking a yoga class around the corner this past Monday. I would have started sooner, but doing yoga for an hour in a 90 degree heated room, and then walking straight up hill for 1/2 a mile requires the immediate use of a shower. Fortunately our hot water was finally turned back on Sunday night and all is now right in the world. I'm not so sure about this class, but I signed up for their 30 days unlimited introductory special, so I'm giving it at least that long. It isn't very spiritual, which is fine, I don't need all the chakra vinyasa stuff, but I couldn't help but feel that this guy had just invented his own type of yoga which doesn't seem to have too much basis in the original. Either way it was a really good stretch and everyone in the class seems friendly.

Friends, food, and fire

Our friends Carla and Brian were here last week for a conference and it was nice to hang out with them and their adorable son Ben (pictured with his almost as adorable sunglasses and just as adorable mom) for a few days. The first night, Monday, they came over for dinner and we actually got to eat at our dining room table for the first time since we moved in. I made a salad with arugula, prosciutto, figs, pine nuts, and dry jack cheese to start with, then chicken with a chile rub and avocado and corn salsa. Dessert was baked carmelized peaches and vanilla ice cream. We drank a bottle of champagne and a bottle of Gvertzemeiner (I know I just slaughtered that spelling) that we picked up in Sonoma the previous weekend. A very nice and relaxing evening - and great to spend time with friends. Later that week we went out to dinner at a mediocre restaurant called Armena in the neighborhood. We tried for sushi, but the wait was an hour long. Armena was unfortunately the first blah meal I've had here, so I was kind of disappointed that we didn't get to show them a better food experience.

Friday night I flew out to Ontario, outside of Los Angeles, for Kerry's bridal shower which was Saturday morning. It was really nice to see her again after being away for 6 weeks now (!). Nick and I wrapped up the weekend with our very first ride on the cable car and a fire in our fireplace. After several days of living in a 62 degree house, shivering under a down comforter and blanket, and taking cold showers against our will (don't get me started), we finally overcame our denial that it is just freaking cold in San Francisco in the summer, and Nick channelled all his manly insticts and built us a beautiful fire last night.

A weekend of wine

This past Thursday Nick came home from work and excitedly told me that we had plans for Friday night to go to a party. Equally excited at the prospect of many conversations with real live human beings I asked him whose party it was. He paused before telling me that we were going to "Barbara's" birthday party. We don't know any Barbara's, but I did remember seeing a flyer taped to our apartment door downstairs inviting all the neighbors to come celebrate Barbara's birthday at 1711 Jones, right across the street from us. Ugh. Over the next 24 hours we debated who this Barbara was, and how sad it was that she didn't have any friends and needed to invite her neighbors over to celebrate her birthday (the irony), but we decided to go anyway, because even if she was our parent's age, that would still beat my first 92 year old friend by a good 30 years.

So with a bottle of wine and some homemade black bean dip with spiced pita chips, we headed across the street at 7:30 on Friday. It was the most incredible scene - dozens of people of all ages wearing name tags showing the cross streets on which they lived all milling about. A table full of dozens of bottles of wine and wine glasses, and a zydeco/bluegrass band playing in the background. We got our name tags and a glass of wine each and it was maybe 5 seconds before people were coming over to introduce themselves and find out who we were. We spent most of the night talking to another young couple named Sarah and Christopher who have lived in the area for the past 7 months. Eventually we met Barbara, who was celebrating her 60th birthday. Apparently every month she hosts these "wine with the neighbors" parties in her garden and people come back for them even after they leave the neighborhood. The hour we promised ourselves we'd put in at the party quickly turned into three before we walked home. Such a nice surprising evening.

The next morning, Saturday, we got up and ran down to the Farmer's Market to pick up some fruit and veggies for the week. Our friends Carla and Brian are in town from DC and coming over for dinner tonight (Monday), so I wanted to show them the variety of great produce we can get here. I'm making a salad with arugula, figs, prosciutto, and goat cheese. Then dinner is chicken marinated in lime and chile with a corn, avocado, tomato, garlic salsa and then finally carmelized peaches with vanilla ice cream. I love summer.

After that it was off to Sonoma for the day where we had a little road trip planned through 4 or 5 wineries and then to have dinner in town. I only know California wine country through movies and books. They do not do it justice.

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea:

Funny Cassoulet and a Ferry Ride

We had a great weekend here in the city. Friday night we went to the movies and saw Little Miss Sunshine with Steve Carell and Greg Kinnear, two excellent actors - it was so funny in parts that I literally laughed so hard my stomach hurt for two days. Saturday we ran some errands which included the elusive search for a kitchen trash can that looks good and doesn't cost $90. After 3 stores, I finally settled on a $12 trash can from Home Depot which doesn't look that great, but was definitely not $90. We ended the afternoon at the Ferry Building where we got takeout from Le Mistral, which I think of as Chicken Out if it was in the south of France and everything was made by a little old french grandma (or grand-mère), sat outside and watched the people and the sailboats go by. Ahhhh. I ordered the special of the day which was called "Cassoulet de Toulouse" and was so absolutely delicious. I think I got the recipe sort-of figured out, so am going to attempt to recreate it on my own tonight.

Sunday morning we walked the 10 blocks straight downhill to Fisherman's Wharf where we took a ferry over to Tiburon and had lunch at a place called Sam's Cafe which is right on the water, and pretty much the only thing to do in Tiburon. We had oysters and bloody mary's and both were excellent, though the oysters were a bit small. On the ferry back we met a very nice, uh, ferry (sorry, I couldn't resist) who told us about all his favorite restaurants in the city. He didn't have any Lebanese or Middle Eastern suggestions (I ask everyone I meet, and still no luck), but told us where to get the best steak, pasta, Ethiopian, and Greek. We briefly contemplated walking the 10 blocks back uphill, but opted for a cab. I think we could've done the 10 blocks by foot, but we still had unpacking to do, and the nap we'd have needed after that would've gotten in the way. Maybe next time. On that note, we're about 95% of the way unpacked, and will hopefully get to that 5% before the weekend.

Our very first (and last, I hope) earthquake

At 8:08 and 12 seconds PT last night, as we were watching TV, we experienced our very first earthquake. We didn't actually realize it was an earthquake - we thought it was just a really strong wind gust (it's pretty windy up here on this hill) - until about an hour later when it was reported on the news.

From the SF Chronicle:
"The quake was felt as a brief rumble in downtown San Francisco, some 40 miles away from the epicenter. To a few occupants of the Starbucks coffee shop at Fourth and Mission streets, it felt stronger than the passing nearby of a very large truck."

The magnitude was between 4.4 and 4.6 which I gather is pretty mild, but maybe stronger than they typically get. I am pretty proud of myself for not freaking out, but I wouldn't mind if I never had to experience another one.

Yesterday after work I tried out my first yoga class at one of the three yoga studios in walking distance from our apartment. This one was in a gym, so not the most relaxing space on earth, what with the sounds of free weights dropping and the cardio boot camp instructor yelling in the studio next door. The gym used to be an old movie theater and much of the interior has been preserved, including the large screen which shows old movies with subtitles while you work out. The yoga studio itself is in the old projection room. Only in San Francisco.