The Long-awaited, Are You Going to San Francisco, Pt. 2 (through the eyes of a tourist)

It's hard to believe that we were in San Fran 3 weeks ago! (I suppose this is a better-late-than-never post). After our interesting Virgin Airlines flight, we made it to SF around 9:45 AM (gotta love flying west!) Per the suggestion of the bride, we decided to check out the Ferry Building Marketplace, which is a MUST SEE for any foodie (or wanna-be-foodie, which is probably - if we're honest with ourselves - the category we fall into :)), and it did not disappoint!

As far as the eye can see...food, food, and more food.

Some of the beautiful produce at Farm Fresh to You. Definitely feeling like a true foodie here...only foodies take pictures of food, right?

God had fun when he created heirloom tomatoes. :)

Our first stop was at the Cowgirl Creamery, where we purchased a pretty incredible grilled cheese sandwich.

This was at the high-boy table where we stood and ate our sandwich. I'm convinced that the sandwich tasted even better because I was looking at a flower like this one.

And here it is. The grilled cheese sandwich in all it's glory! (well, not all it's glory, as we were obviously starving and began inhaling the sandwich -which, as a side-note, I'm pretty sure is a wanna-be foodie move...I don't think that a real foodie would inhale anything - so this is our sandwich in about 3/8ths of its glory). This sandwich was kind of to die for. The bread was golden and perfectly crunchy, and the cheese was melty and fantastically gooey, and just to send it over-the-top, there was some tomato and fresh basil mixed in there, too. To balance out our wanna-be status, we did pull a "real foodie" move. We paid about $9 for this sandwich. Normal people wouldn't dream of paying that for some bread and some cheese...but that's just what makes us foodies a different breed. (This was also easily justified, as we just finished watching The Great Food Truck Race on Food Network, where one of the trucks sold grilled cheeses for like $15 a pop. This was a steal, people.)

Next stop...of course, the meat-in-a-cone shop! You know that you need to try meat-in-a-cone when your friend who has been a vegetarian since she was in elementary school recommends it to you. Seriously. That's how we found out about it.

This time around we were able to show a small amount of self-control and were able to hold ourselves back for 2 seconds and snap a picture before consuming our food. This is also, I believe, the mark of a foodie.

What's in the cone, you ask? Well, salumi of course!
Wanna-be foodie confession...had no idea what salumi was. Kind of thought it might be related to salami? Or maybe it was salami with a different spelling? Confession #2, still have no idea what salumi is (other than TASTY!) as I write this blog entry. Come to find out, thanks to wiseGEEK.com (clear answers for common questions) [because how many people ask themselves daily, "I wonder what salumi is!?"] that salumi is a family of Italian cured meat products, and that it is commonly confused with salami. :) Glad to know I'm not alone in that association. All that aside, that stuff was good. Really good.

We washed down the tasty, salty pig parts with a little wine from a wine bar.

J totally pulled an authentic foodie move and picked a pinot to try out based on our experience in Santa Barbara last year and then asked for a recommendation for a nice chardonnay. Nicely done, J. Nicely done.

The next day began with a ride down the "F train" to Fisherman's Wharf. And what better way to start your day than with mini donuts!? This, too, I'm sure, is not a foodie move. A foodie would choose to have something refined like crepes for breakfast. It should be noted that we actually stepped foot into a crepe place and considered ordering, but in true wanna-be fashion, we were enticed out the door by the perfume of fried dough covered in cinnamon sugar.

We showed self-restraint and only got a sack of 12. We could have gotten a bucket of 24. And we did consider that...very briefly.

Here's Alcatraz from afar. J tried to buy a ticket to take a tour, but there were a few other people who had the same idea. The tours were sold out until Monday.

Posing with the bay in the background.

We rounded the corner and by the smell and the barks knew we had found Pier 39.

It really is funny to see all these sea lions just hanging out.We felt badly for this guy. It was like he didn't get the memo. :(

All throughout the area there were planters filled with beautiful flowers.
More flowers...and an apparently angry crab.

Next stop - Boudin Bakery...the home of the sourdough bread bowl. Yes, please!

I do believe this is an anti-foodie move. This is probably the most stereotypical lunch choice we could have made while in San Fran - chowder in a bread bowl...but it was awesome. And I'd eat it again. So there.

With the little bit of time left, we visited some of the historic ships at the pier.
I know the historical significance of this Rosie the Riveter, but I would also like to think that Rosie had a 9 month old who didn't crawl that she carried around, and that's why she's flexing. She probably has some mean guns...I'm just sayin'.

At this point, I had to go back to the hotel to start getting ready for the wedding, so J went out on his own to explore. (J's commentary follows...)I visited some more historic ships (and you can't see it in this picture, but this is actually a place that people swim laps...shockingly the people I witnessed were swimming without wetsuits...in VERY cold water...I decided they're crazy).

I made my way to Ghiradelli Square. I knew it was a famous tourist spot, so I had to check it out.

I have to say, there's not really anything happening there except chocolate. (Seriously? What were you expecting?) I guess I expected more? I was already "fooded" out at this point of the trip (yet another mark of a "wanna be foodie?") and indulging in chocolate wasn't exactly at the top of my list. However, I would be remiss if I didn't sample a hot chocolate. And I'll be darned....probably the best hot chocolate I've ever had (pumpkin spice caramel hot chocolate). And what goes better with hot chocolate than a piece of chocolate (as seen on the plate)? It was neat to sit and enjoy my beverage while reading about the chocolate-making process and seeing the machines do their magic.

Overall, it was a great day...and we were definitely full at the end of it all, but that's what vacation is about, right? Calories don't count, and you can do things like eat stupidly-priced grilled cheese sandwiches and wash it down with hot chocolate with a side of chocolate. It's probably good that our vacations are limited...our clothes wouldn't fit.

Milestones

Logically speaking, "Are You Going to San Francisco, Pt.2" should be the next post. However, today our munchkin turns 9 months old (well, technically, his b-day is the 31st, but there are a lot of months out there without 31 days, so we just do the best we can), and there is a lot going on with him!

We went to the doctor for his 9 mo. appointment today. He weighs 21 lbs., 7 oz., is 29 inches long, and his head is 18 inches around. He's in the 75th percentile in every category. As his dad tells him, "Way to be average, son." :)

About 3 weeks ago (around Sept. 10 or so), P started to vocalize A LOT. He truly went from grunting and "meh-ing" at things to busting out all sorts of consonants. He started out with a string of da-da-da, and then quickly went to ba, ma, ga, na, and ha. In fact, you can sometimes get him to sound like he's fake laughing at you because if you say "ha-ha-ha," he'll say it back to you. Pretty stinken' cute.

We are also proud to announce that 9 months later (well, technically 8 months and 29 days later when we actually found it), our little Peanut has a tooth coming in! Not that I've been hoping for teeth, as I equate teeth with biting, and no one likes biting, but I was admittedly starting to wonder if there was a possibility that there weren't any teeth hiding in there. So, just for kicks, I googled it...and I couldn't come up with a legit possibility of a baby being born without any teeth at all, although, while searching, I did come across these gems of search questions:

1) How u born with out no teeth? (How u born with out no...well, I won't go there. That's not nice.)
2) Does smoking while pregnant cause babies to be born without teeth? (Really, is this what you're the most concerned about???)
3) Raccoon care (I'm not kidding. It was the 8th link down.)

But none of that matters because we have a tooth!!! P doesn't seem to be quite as excited about it, however. J's mom has told me that none of her boys teethed gracefully, and my mom said I would sometimes run a fever when I was getting a tooth, so looks like he's coming by it honestly. He's just SUCH a content little guy most of the time that when he acts fussy, you notice.

Can you see it?!? It's on his bottom, right side.

While P still isn't crawling yet (and believe me, this momma isn't complaining about that!), he's gotten very comfortable with his balance and is able to reach for things that are far away and then regain his sitting position (most of the time). :)

Here he is showing off his mad leaning-over skills, as he tries to pet (aka, grab a fist-full of hair from) Jakers. He LOVES the cats. He always shrieks when they come in the room where he is. Elliott isn't super keen on him, but Jake loves the fact that there's another human in the house who is interested in touching him! I am grateful that our crazy little Jake has such an adoring fan. One more note on the cats - whenever P is crying, the cats always come in to find out what's going on. In fact, that's how you can rate how severe P's wails are. If it's not too bad, the cats don't show up. Kind of bad...you get one cat. Really bad...two cats.
You never want to see two cats.

Other things that are going on in P's life: he has started reaching for people that he knows...and there's nothing like being on the receiving end of those out-stretched arms. He has also has seemingly started "dancing," just grooving with his head...it's hilariously cute. More on that as it develops. :) Also, P loves hearing from his dad as J is driving home from work. I'll put the phone on speaker and show P J's picture that pops up on the screen. P always gets the biggest smile on his face and looks at me like, "How did they get Dad in that phone!?" :) So cute.

9 month pictures...living in the age of digital cameras, we tend to pick out only the best pictures to share with others, so for a moment, I'd like to change that...at least on this post. Here are a couple of Peanut out-takes:

Maybe if I close my eyes, it'll all disappear.
Practicing a pirate face? Arrrrrrrrggh!
I'm not digging the author's point of view here...

And now for our sweet Peanut...

Who me?

Smiling at dad.

Dad making him laugh.

Check out that hair.

Eating one of our current favorite books, " That's Not My Monkey,"
(not to be confused with "That's Not My Kitten" and "That's Not My Reindeer," which also exist).I think those blue eyes are going to be an effective bargaining tool with his mom...but don't tell him that.Sophie the Giraffe is still an important parts of our lives.Eating another favorite book - "Barnyard Dance."
(And yes, we do read the books, we don't just eat them...)

So happy 9 months, sweet boy! We love you so much! :)

Are You Going to San Francisco...Pt. 1

This weekend we headed west to San Francisco to celebrate the marriage of my high school best friend, Justine, to her wonderful, now husband, Dave. It was a weekend of firsts - the first time for J to visit San Fran, the first time we left Peanut overnight, the first time to fly Virgin America, the first time to eat meat in a cone (pictures to come), the first time to visit the store "Edition" (Banana Republic's exclusive accessory store that only exists in San Francisco), the first time to eat in a strictly vegetarian restaurant, the first time to blog on a plane...it was a whirlwind 3 days, but 3 wonderful days, nonetheless.

We flew out on Friday morning at 8:00, which was great because that meant we arrived in the Bay Area around 10 AM, which gave us the entire day to bum around and see the sights. However, that also meant that we had to wake up at 4:30 after going to sleep at midnight. Needless to say we were both a little tired. Nothing like starting off a day of firsts on about 4 hours of sleep.
As I mentioned, we had never flown Virgin America before, and it is definitely an experience. Case and point: when we arrived at the airport and went in to check our bags, we were greeted by a Michael Jackson song blaring from speakers on the floor...nothing gets you going before 7 AM like hearing the "King of Pop."

Admittedly, I was kind of excited to see what all the fuss was about, and as we boarded the airplane, it was easy to see that this is definitely a different type of airline.
This is exactly what the plane looks like - not your everyday, American Airlines sort of feel. There's music playing, mood lighting, individual screens on the back of every seat. Kind of fun. Our first interaction was with a male flight attendant (who we later found out was named Justin). J asked Justin where he could hang his suit and my bridesmaid dress. Justin informed us that they didn't have anywhere to hang our things (seriously? I've never been on an airline that didn't have a place to hang jackets!) My response was to coyly/kiddingly say, "What if my bridesmaid dress gets wrinkled?," to which he responded, "Always a bridesmaid, never the bride?" (very smugly, I might add). Thankfully, even with only 4 hours of sleep, I had my wits about me and without skipping a beat, held up my left hand and said, "6 years of being the bride, thank you very much." (Strike 1 for Justin).

We make our way back to our seats, which happen to be in the 2nd to last row. No biggie. We had the entire row to ourselves, which was nice. Now to figure out what to do with our clothes. I decide to ask the nice flight attendant in the back of the plane for help. While I can't recall specifics of that conversation, I do know it felt like I was talking to someone playing a ditsy blonde flight attendant in a movie or TV show. While very pleasant, she wasn't super helpful (Strike 1 for flight attendant in the back)...beginning to wonder about the hiring practices at Virgin Airlines after these first two interactions.

Then Justin came on the overhead speaker and introduced himself as the head flight attendant (strike 2 for Justin) and the remainder of the in-flight crew as Haley (aka flight attendant in the back) and Lindsey. Lindsey looked about 21 years old and her perfume gave me a headache (Strike 1). She did offer me a beverage (+1 for Lindsey). So far Lindsey is the only attendant not in negative territory....don't worry, her time will come.

As we were taking off, I turned to J and told him that I really wasn't feeling like Justin, Haley, and Lindsey were people I could trust to save my life in the rare circumstance that we had to use those slides to exit the plane. He agreed.

For your entertainment, check out 45 seconds into their safety video. We thought it was worth a giggle when we saw it the first time (1st Class gets a live demonstration AND the video...the peons have to watch their tiny TVs).

Ironically, while searching for an image of the cabin aboard Virgin American to put on the blog, I came across the following image:
Turns out that there was a TV docu-series that aired last year called "Fly Girls" that followed 5 Virgin American flight attendants. It is important to note that the young ladies above are named Farrah, Nikole, Tasha, Louise and Mandy. I think that Justin, Haley, and Lindsey would fit in with this group nicely.

Maybe 45 minutes before we landed, I did happen to turn around and see Justin and Haley hugging each other in the back of the plane (Strike 3 and 2 respectively)....having never seen an episode, so I'm purely theorizing, I'm guessing this is what "The Hills" would be like if they were all flight attendants. To cap it all off, Lindsey apparently couldn't handle the rigors of her job and took up the empty row behind us watching TV and eating a snack (strike 1 - back to negative). Add that to the fact that when she sat down directly behind me and released the tray table, she woke me up (strike 2...she's in a free fall, folks). Come to think of it, they do mention in their pre-flight script that they'll do their best to stay out of our way during the flight. Maybe taking this one a little too literally, Lindsey.

Thankfully, we never had to test the theory with the exit slides and whether or not Justin, Haley, and Lindsey would have been able to earn their keep, as the flight was completely uneventful. And I have to admit, having the ability to watch TV while flying definitely made the trip seem shorter (heaven forbid I read a book) (and as J points out, great for a Sunday afternoon flight with football games on for the way back). Also, they were extremely punctual both in boarding, take off, and landing...so kudos there. Would we fly them again? Probably yes, but hopefully the details of our first flight at least made for an entertaining post. (It should be noted that the flight attendants of our next flight were named Veronica and Stephanie...at least they're consistent?) :)

(This post was a joint effort...looks like J may become a regular.) :)

Meanwhile, Not at the Ranch...

This is a much belated post. As I referenced in a previous post (Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch), while P and I were with my mom's family at the ranch, J was in Austin completing an Olympic Triathlon. I would have posted something sooner, but up until this past weekend (thanks to J's dad), I had no photographic evidence that this had actually happened...the only proof I had was the fact that my husband had the number "30" written on his leg in permanent marker (one of the ways they identify bodies of those who don't make it through the swim - kidding, sort of?), he now had another technical shirt and another swim cap, possessed one MORE water bottle (they apparently give these away like candy in triathlon SWAG bags, as we now have like 6 of them in our house), and I found a bag of Famous Amos cookies (from after the race), and an assortment of clif/power/protein bar samples. But now, I have actual proof. Great proof! :) J's dad made an awesome video, complete with an inspiring soundtrack. Before you see it, however, you must understand what it was that J knowingly and willingly put his body through...

But before you read on...let's face it. You most likely check this blog to see pictures of Peanut. So here ya go. Grammy Share got P a new bucket, you know, to spice things up a little. If you are familiar with the "Eloise" books, you'll appreciate this reference: "Buckets make very good hats."

Lovin' the bucket look.

He kind of looks like he's going off to war.

Hey, where did everybody go!?

And one more... :)

Back to the triathlon...as J makes his blogging debut.

The distances -
1500 meter swim (.93miles)
40km bike (24.9 miles)
10km run (6.2 miles)

My goal was to finish the race, but while I was at it, I might as well come up with a time to shoot for, right?...how about 3 hours? How did I come up with that? I looked at the finishing times from this race a year ago and arbitrarily chose a break point that would put me above the "slow" people (insert from L - nice, Buddy. Really nice.). I had quantified exactly how I would accomplish this. This is how my mind works (it's true)...for everything (seriously, for everything).... A 35 minute swim, 3.5 minute transition 1, 80 minute bike, 2.5 minute transition 2, and a 59 minute run. Individually, I had made all of these times in training....but together, on the same day, on the Austin hills (wait, the terrain is different in Dallas than the Hill Country?), in what was forecasted to be 20-30mph wind? That might be a different story. (when J ran his first marathon, it was also ridiculously windy...hmmm...coincidence? Maybe he has super powers and is like a wind whisperer or something - or he just has bad luck.)

The swim: Normally what would be a very cold swim in the spring-fed Town Lake, was quite warm due to the drought and extreme heat of this summer. The swim start was incredibly easy-going--not the washing machine effect that can occur in many triathlon starts (and I remember from my previous shorter races). In fact, I even managed to draft (swim super close and slightly behind so that you can experience calmer waters immediately next to another swimmer (interpret - swim ninja)) off a guy that I realized I was swimming next to after about 100 meters. I did this until the turnaround at 750 meters. Who knows if this actually helped, but it at least sounds like I know what I'm doing, right?... Before I knew it, I was at the turnaround and was actually beginning to PASS people that had started in previous waves (this is fantastic, as he might have had the opposite experience in his first race...which may or may not have involved hanging on to a kayak...for survival...multiple times...in a swim 1/3 the distance...). I couldn't believe I was seeing people in different colored swim caps that had started 5 minutes before me. I actually enjoyed it more with others around...seemed like a race versus just swimming alone in Town Lake (that would be sketchy - I'm just sayin'!). Soon, the last turn arrived as we all headed back to shore and headed to the transition area to grab our bikes. I looked at my watch and saw 34 min, 37 sec. So far so good...ahead of pace and I didn't feel like I was pushing it to have achieved that (p.s. - it turns out that J's best event is swimming...which is pretty fantastic considering before this all started, he was a runner!) The first thing I heard was my parents cheering for me as I exited water which was really fun. L and I have previously referred to my parents as "race spectator ninjas" (this is true - they have mad skills). After now spectating at a couple of marathons, a couple of 1/2 marathons, etc, they've really got this stuff down to a science. They manage to get see you from so many places, it doesn't even seem possible (you really do think to yourself, "How are they doing this!?!"). Because triathlons all center around one transition area, this was no sweat for them to see me more than a few times during the race.

Have you made it this far?! Congrats! Your reward is a picture of Peanut.

You aren't going to stop reading about my dad's triathlon, are you???

The bike: The course was three loops through the south edge of downtown Austin. In fact, you ride down Congress Ave almost all the way down to the State Capital before one of the turnarounds. Pretty fun scenery especially after having gone to school in Austin and having spent so much time there with family living there! The second loop should have been the least eventful after knowing what to expect from the first lap and getting ready to push hard during the 3rd lap. I should have known better. My bike and I have had some recent disagreements (this is an understatement). It started in July when it looked like my whole bike was rusting over. I took it in and got a number of things replaced, including my chain. Then, during my LAST training ride before the race (3 days before), I was as far away from my car on the White Rock Lake trail as I could have been when my chain BROKE and then had to walk the remaining 3.5-4 miles back to my car (this is a true sob story) (before another rider was nice enough to pick me up in his car and take my to mine for the last 1.5 miles (side note: when did this become acceptable? To take rides from strangers? No one has given me permission to do this!). So this race was my first ride with my new chain. Fortunately, everything seemed to be functioning well until user error caused the chain to partially fall off. Fortunately, I realized it was happening and stopped and got it back on without losing much time and just a little grease on my hands. The rest of the ride was uneventful, and my final time was just about where it needed to be...80 minutes, 20 seconds (but who's counting).

Still hanging in there!? Good for you! Peanut appreciates you supporting his dad. Here's another picture:
The run: The run was actually quite pleasant and fun...but don't get me wrong, I was pretty tired.... The weather for the day was much cooler than what I'd been training in (SEVERE understatement, we're talking 78 degrees versus 108 degrees!), but still warm enough to be comfortable for the bike and swim. Considering my favorite temperature to run in is about 45 degrees from my days training for marathons in the winter (you know he's a real runner because 39 degrees is considered "a little cool" and he STILL wears shorts!), any bit cooler it is, I'll take it. I didn't know what I was in for when I started training for triathlons and then I realized that I would be running in 80+ (or even 90 or 100+) degree weather every training run and race. I think it was high 70s, so this was awesome! There were lots of encouraging people on the course (2 loop 3 mile course) and the aid stations were great. The second aid station even had everyone dressed up as Star Wars characters. I think I got water from Princess Leia...only in Austin (unfortunately/thankfully? she wasn't wearing her gold bikini). Near the end of the second loop, I realized I was close to beating my goal time of 3 hours, but I didn't know how much further after the end of the second loop it was to the finish line since it was an add on to the 2nd loop. So with about a 1/2 mile to go on the second loop, I started booking it (as much as someone in my condition can at that point). Fortunately, the finish line was one turn away and maybe 50 meters after the last turn, and I realized I would be making it. 57 minutes, 23 second on the run and 2:58:03 for the total. For my age group, I was 64th out of 114. Pretty darn respectable in my opinion for my first race of this distance (WAY more than respectable! I'm SO proud of him!!)!

(I failed to mention the permanent marker on his arm, too. :))
With one of the race ninjas. :)

Unfortunately, my race (triathlon) season is now over and I have to come up with other ways to motivate myself to stay in shape during the winter. I'm sure I'll figure out some way to punish myself until next spring....can't wait to do more races next summer! Next year....Half Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run)?....we'll see what PWE has to say about that (and PWE's mom). Thanks for reading (if you made it this far! :-))

And now for the video!