Weekend Visits

Weekend visits from coast to coast are much too short—every minute of my moms trip out here was savored until her flight home. I know its hard for her to imagine her daughter so far away and we hadn't seen each other since the day I made my big move. My excitement to show her everything about my life on the west coast overwhelmed my ability to choose which “things” I wanted to show her in the short time she would be here. I wanted to show her the farm fields and trails I was surrounded by and introduce her to the people I live and work with. Farm-raised pork sat marinating in the fridge as I gave her a tour of the farm and we stopped by the garden to pick fresh broccoli and curly kale (not forgetting to try the nearly-ripe apricots along the way). We were both so excited to be in the kitchen together again as we spent a lot of time preparing meals together at home. The first thing to appear on the counter before the cooking started was a bottle of wine so being in California warranted an extra special bottle for the two of us. As the first glass was poured, so began the conversation of catching up on life apart. We carried our conversation to the table, full plates in one hand, our second glass of wine in the other. I really wanted to impress her and thought about this meal the second she bought her plane ticket so the pressure was on as I anticipated her reaction as she took her first bite. A simple “Mmm” escaped my mother’s mouth and I knew I had the Mom Seal of Approval. We continued to eat as slowly as we could, savoring the flavors and lingering in conversation. As full as we were, we had just enough room for a warm, salted caramel brownie and we sat in contentment, letting many more “Mmm”s escape our blissful mouths.

If you couldn't tell from my previous posts, much of my life revolves around food. I do live on a farm, but I love to cook and I love to try new things. We woke to a full day in San Francisco planned with lunch reservations at a chic Vietnamese restaurant in the Ferry Building that overlooked the Bay. I was hoping and praying that the often foggy and cloudy skies in the city would hold off for my mothers visit and someone must have heard me because we could not have asked for more perfect weather. There wasn’t a cloud to be seen and there was just enough of a breeze to keep us cool under the unclogged sun. Before lunch, we roamed the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, sampling some of the fresh fruit but trying not to fill up too much before lunch. We slowly weaved our way through the vendors and eventually made it into the Ferry Building where we found our restaurant and sat at a perfect table on the patio where we could watch boats sailing under the bridge as well as the ebb and flow of people roaming the Farmers’ Market. With cocktails ordered first, an Indian Sunrise for me and a Singapore Sling for mom, we sipped and pondered the menu until we settled on something light so we could also splurge for dinner. Fresh shrimp cocktail and vermicelli salad it was and as we ate, we were entertained by plenty of people watching and awkward family photo-ops. The flavors of our lunch lingered as we decided to walk to Union Square for a little bit of what we do best (shop) and eventually we made it to Little Italy where we sought a place to sit, have some wine and eat some more.

I found Little Italy to have a much more relaxed vibe than the boisterous Chinatown we had to pass through on the way and we ate slowly, once again, at a comfortable street-side table and enjoyed every bite of our margherita pizza…still leaving room for something sweet, of course. Little Italy is full of cafés and little restaurants so we didn’t have to walk far to step into a small bakery where we debated over an espresso-soaked chocolate cake or a fresh strawberry vanilla creme cake...so we just ordered both. At this point, we were glad that we had walked so much that day because I don’t think we could have fit anymore delicious food into our stomachs but as the day came to an end, we went home two very accomplished women.


Sunday’s weather was not as agreeable as Saturdays, but we decided to take a drive down the coast to Pescadero any way to absorb some beautiful scenery and stop for lunch at the “infamous” Duarte’s Tavern. Our Sunday was relaxed and we took our time meandering through Pescadero's "main" street area and had a delicious bowl of Duarte's artichoke soup (everything else about the restaurant was less than impressive and I'm still not sure why it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives).



















I am so grateful that I was able to spend the weekend with someone who is nearest and dearest to my heart and show her a small piece of my life out here. Now I just have to convince her that Lake Tahoe is a perfect place to retire and much closer to where I'll be...I know Dad wont take much convincing!

Breakfast in Bed

As I woke up this morning, I was preparing to drag myself out of bed and go on a much needed run I had been planning all weekend. My week had been so busy that I couldn't find the time nor the energy to run like I normally did and I was ready to take on the road. Except my bed was so comfortable...and the breeze coming in through my window was so relaxing. Maybe I should just make a giant cup of coffee with breakfast and settle back in to read for a little bit? Yeah..that sounds way better than forcing my self to run when my body was still too tired. Sometimes I get too concerned with staying healthy by exercising, I forget that taking time to allow my body to relax is just as necessary. With all my roommates gone for morning training, I had the kitchen to myself and impatiently waited for our cow-painted coffee pot (yes, we have a coffee pot painted as a cow) to moo, letting me know that the water was ready, after which I had to wait even longer for the coffee to slowly drip from the filter into my cup. There really is nothing better than a hot cup of fresh-filtered coffee with french vanilla cream...really. I balanced my cup and my bowl of yogurt, hurrying back into my room to slide under my warm covers. I haven't had breakfast in bed in a very long time and I smiled to myself as I took small sips of my coffee and pulled out my book. This is what every Sunday should be like. For everyone. And I'm not saying everyone should brew their own cup of coffee and read in bed, but I think everyone should take some time to do what they really enjoy doing instead of forcing themselves to do something they think they need to be doing. I found so much joy in taking the first hour of my day to relax and enjoy my breakfast, and not think about how badly I need to run off the wine and ice cream I ate the night before. Since I have moved here, my weekends have been all about playing catch up- running to the store to get things that I needed throughout the week, getting groceries for the upcoming week..or even trying to keep up with my non-work life. And for those who know me know that I am incredibly OCD about time and I can't seem to do anything without thinking, "okay, whats next?".  My days are planned down to the minute most of the time and I make lists, to-do's and reminders to keep me on schedule. But today, it is safe to say that I actually spent my day soaking up my time to sit back and relax, instead of chasing it.

As if having breakfast in bed wasn't good enough, I had lunch at a local cafe in town complete with an ice-cold Arnold Palmer in a mason jar and a salad of arugula, kale, quinoa and pancetta.

"We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are.”