Your Mileage May Vary

There and Back Again

Background Noise: Waves and the Both of Us, Charlotte Sometimes

Last Visited: The Napa Gallery

Random Thought: Napa really is a different world; beauty pageants and all

Mood: Weekend holidays aren't for whimps

Heather and Nick dropped in saturday morning for a quick 30-ish hours this weekend; so, as we've been saying we'd do for four years, we finally went to Napa. They landed in SJC, we drove up 280, over the Golden Gate, paused in Tiburon for in-n-out and excedrin, continued up 101 north to 37, to 121 over to Silverado Trail. 

After a too brief stop at Caldwell's hilltop vineyard, we drove past our roadside inn up to Darioush for some amazing whites, a stellar red (their Duel), some entertaining drunks and some gorgeous handcrafted tin lanterns. From there, with only 45 minutes before the Napa vineyards closed for the day, we made it to Paraduxx, whose garden with it's ancient trees gently shading us and the furniture provided the picture perfect setting for a flight of amazing reds; personally, i loved the mallards (2003), Nick preferred the 2004 (i forget which duck), and Heather liked the Red Heads (2005) - we all also decided the mountain vines were better than the valley ones. So there. 

Dinner was at the lovely Don Giovanni where we had a surprising Silverado Sangiovese along with our suppers; i... ate too much. Actually, that was a theme this weekend. As we headed back to our, um, duplex for the evening we swung into this little ghetto beer-wine-bait store where we picked up another bottle - a 2005 (how can you go wrong with that year?) Beauzeaux. That's right... "Beauzeaux." 

Phonetic pronunciation? Bozo.  

Which... we totally were for (a) purchasing that bottle after the brilliant wines we had earlier and (b) drinking it anyways. I am totally blaming my pounding headache this morning on that bottle. 

 

This morning we woke up, hit up the inn's breakfast, starbucks, then the Loire-esque Domaine Carneros before heading back down to meet Steve for lunch in SF at Burgermeister in the Castro. Then, because driving the SF hills is fun, we went up, around, and down Lombard, dropped Steve off at his WW rehearsal, and headed over to Baker Beach to enjoy the warm sand for a moment or thirty before i had to drop Heather and Nick off at SFO. 

... then i drove home and pretty much collapsed. Then i edited pictures. And now? Now i'm going to bed; because there's a keynote in the morning and i want to be awake for it. 

(Oh, and, guys? Please come back soon - i'm so glad you made it out here, finally.)

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@ A247

Background Noise: Only

Last Visited: Long Ridges Gallery

Random Thought: This should be the fastest moving day ever; hopefully they'll do me a favor and remove this extra desk nonsense

Mood: Not as angsty as my background noise might imply; i blame the random shuffle for that one

The first time i bought these shoes they were $35; now they're $80; however, they were basically one of my favorite pairs of shoes of all time, so my question now is, do i (a) buy them again anyways even though they're more expensive (b) buy them in the two remaining colors because they're awesome and wonderful and i should pick them up while they're still around or (c) sigh and say that season was over and i should find a new pair to adore. 

Thoughts? 

(You might be wondering why i'd need to buy them again; well, the short answer? I managed to destroy the heel on one if not beyond repair than close to it. Actually the story of the destruction is pretty funny, but i'm so not even close to being witty enough this morning to tell it well, so, um, you'll have to call me to hear it... though, those who've heard it already don't think it's that funny at all. Maybe it was my delivery.)

The pictures are from my various ramblings this weekend (please see the Long Ridges gallery); I think i've finally gotten a handle on using that wide angle lens; it's still not my favorite, or rather, this couldn't be the only lens i took on a trip as it's range is limited, but, i think some of the pictures i've gotten with it are quite nicely dramatic, so, who knows Dave, you might have to loan this one out to me for a while. 

Oh, and by the way, the best-tacos-ever place in Pescadero? Makes the most amazing burrito i've ever eaten; the view that came with it was also pretty mind blowing. 

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Rubber hits the Road

Background Noise: Simple As It Should Be, Tristan Prettyman
Last Visited: More pictures - Westin SF, Highway 1 SF -> Santa Cruz
Random Thought: i didn't realize veronica mars was from detroit; awesome
Mood: waking up

I need to remember / relearn how to drive a stick shift; then i need to take a defensive driving & / or high performance vehicle driving class so the next time Andrew offers me the keys to his gorgeous red porsche cayman to "drive to coffee" i don't have to utter the painful words "not yet, ask me again later."

Because when i feel confident getting behind the wheel of that car without, oh, destroying it, my "coffee break" might have to be a bit offsite; like Carmel. Or San Diego. Or both.

PS: Because of NPH and quotes like "hey, as far as i'm concerned, as long as i leave you safe on dry land with adequate transportation i'm done," i might just actually have to buy Season 3 of How i Met Your Mother
PPS: Love the 2009 Ferrari California
PPPS: and of course, big hearts to the Porsche Artega GT convertible

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The Power of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives

Background Noise: sportscenter
Last Visited: checking the archives re: London '06
Random Thought: to the best of our knowledge: kid's books echos my adoration of "kids" lit - not that i needed the validation, but it's kinda nice to hear Salman Rushdie talk about The Wizard of Oz in tones bordering on reverence
Mood: smiling at ponies

I took a drive this morning; down 17, from the roads of blue skies with puffy clouds into the wild rolling fog of the mountains, up and over and around and through to highway 1 north, along the gobsmacking beauty of the rugged coast, up Donny Boon and back, then finally across Pescadero to Alpine to Page Mill, out of the fog and back into the land of dry, windy, blue skies.

... and along the way, i kid you not, i listened to the stylings of the Baroque Beatles; (and no, Cogsworth, i'm not making the joke.) Yep, i said it: Baroque Beatles. Like Pachebel + Lennon; Brahms + McCartney. It was... interesting; and when running along the rugged coast with the rolling clouds, oddly appropriate.

Enjoy the pictures; there should have been more, but it took awhile to get my jaw off the ground to realize i could pull over, stop the car, and take out my camera; at times it was just that beautiful. of course, these pictures don't show that, but, well, that just proves i'm not really a photographer yet.

Oh, but trips like this? Only make me want to take that motorcycle riding class that much more. Go figure.

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Color and Light

Background Noise: Moving On, Sunday in the Park with George
Last Visited: iphoto, sigh
Random Thought: back with a greater understanding of the term "benediction"
Mood: so. tired. need. sleep.

There's a greater post that needs to be written here about my weekend in New York... but honestly, i'm exhausted and this gallery (in it's mostly incorrect form) has taken forever to get up at least this much, so, well, i'm going to give up for now.

Enjoy this little glimpse of people in and around the park and i'll get back to you with the rest in the morning. [Cali translation: some time before friday; hopefully].

Please leave your message after the beep.

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Some Enchanted Evening, aka, Friday

Background Noise: Midnight Coward, Stars
Last Visited: StubHub!
Random Thought: where did this headache come from?
Mood: i don't really care that Survivor will now be in HD

All hail the powers of the interwebs! They have delivered (relatively) cheap(ish) decent tickets to South Pacific at Lincoln Center friday night at 8!

So, B, you have to forgive me for up and committing us to that show, but see, they were available (a start), we can pick them up in NYC (better than sweating over them being delivered here), they were available, I'm actually getting a refund from the government which i must spend on something fabulous, and, well, i figure that the extra cost is the price i pay for not having to wait on line on friday for tickets after a redeye the night before; and believe me, that is something I'm very very willing to pay for - especially with my current headache (yowza, it's a doozy.)

Plus, you know how much i love getting the ungettable ticket. Besides, if some how we've been screwed, StubHub has us covered, so it's mostly a no-harm-no-foul situation.

Besides, it looks like saturday is the day to spend outside - so that'll be perfect for being on line forSunday in the Park with George tickets, which there seem to be plenty of; those tickets also start at $36, so, i'm sure they somehow slightly balance out the others. Or something like that.

Yeay NYC!

... Now i just have to work, shop, play poker, run, pick up Dave from the airport, work, pack, clean my apartment, and hitch a ride to the airport. No sweat. Er, um... something like that.

But we have tickets! All will be well.

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Mr. Jetlag wants to be my best friend

Background Noise: GG, Ballrooms and Biscotti
Last Visited: DTW, Zingermans, Home
Random Thought: somehow i seriously doubt all the work i did to my web galleries when i was home and offline have actually updated and for some reason i'm envisioning hours of work to fix them.
Mood: amused by the toy helicopter floating above the carpet near gate F3

Yesterday afternoon i watched 6 year olds play hockey; i'd have used a period there, but well, it feels like i need to elaborate.

That's my little cousin Jack; there are more pictures of him and his twin brother Joe playing, but well, the pictures of Jack make him look like a hockey player and the pictures of Joe? Less so; never fear, Joe has other strengths - for instance, he can spell "leprechaun."

I'm sitting in the little desk area of the F terminal in the Minneapolis airport, the same desk area i spent three hours at last thursday, about to grab the same small non-fat mocha from Caribou that i enjoyed on my way out. I don't love stopovers (shocking!), but, there is something to be said for having nearly a whole day to either decompress into a vacation or decompress out of it. I'm still tired, but as always after trips home, it's a different tired then when i arrived.

I need to pack up to head to my gate soon; I caught an earlier flight out of metro here and i'm glad i did - there was a bumpy weather pattern coming in that we only had to deal with a little bit.

I'm so glad Al gave me the excuse to go home, take a few walks, see my family, have tortilla soup, cottage inn pizza, good time charlie's, and zingermans. I'm sorry i didn't get to see more people, but to be honest, i was quite totally exhausted most of the weekend and i'll be back in a few months.

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! Go find some green beer - and at the very least, wear your green socks.

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In View

Background Noise: Walcott, Vampire Weekend
Last Visited: my gallery, again
Random Thought: my awesome little brother is my new source of music
Mood: today will not be normal

There's a lot going on right now, coming from all directions. Not that this isn't necessarily normal (at least historically looking through my archives), but i beg you to believe me that right now? Right now is different. If not only because, well, most of the "stuff" has very little to do with work (amazing, right?) (well, actually, quite a lot has to do with work, as always, but there's actually stuff outside of work too) - of course, i don't actually think i can talk any more about this stuff than i can about the work stuff.

Of course.

One might wonder why i bother to blog at all sometimes.

One might wonder what the point of writing "stuff that i can tell you about it happening, but boy is it pulling me in 8 million different directions!" is.

One might have a point.

But i'd rather post something here than not; i apologize if it's ridiculously annoying.

Switching topics, I'm going home next week! I'm beyond thrilled. I booked the flight last week clutching any and all excuses i could find, and i'm going to make the most of my layover in Minn to see Heather, then home to see the fam and Al and Cathy. It will be wonderful, and hopefully a source for more pictures. Because i have to admit, i've kindof become addicted to taking pictures. Very soothing. Now if i could only find the time to actually put up my picture shelves on the wall of my apartment so i could print some and put them up....

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"Yes, it's chock-full very fresh, clean Noxzema girl wholesome awesomeness. :-)"

Background Noise: The Prince's Tale
Last Visited: Dave's Distractions, which needs to be updated again
Random Thought: any excuse will do if it gets me home
Mood: still sleepy, but better

I'm going home in two weeks (3/13-3/17)! And to NYC in April(4-18-4/21)! Well, i guess my happy travel feet are back with a vengeance; geez, you send a girl to London and Tahoe and it's like she doesn't want to go back to work or something.... Actually, i blame my being sick for causing my general homesickness; that or it's just been three months since i've been home and at least 6 since i've had zingermans - either way. And it's just been way too long since i've been to NYC. So yeay, i'm excited.

And now, let's continue with that interview....

What is your current ring tone? ... nothing interesting enough to mention; obviously i need to find a new one Waffles are... a yummy indulgence How many times have you broken your cell phone? way too often

What's the best thing you've ever eaten? it's hard to say, i've had a lot of amazing food, but my guess is "white truffle oil" was an ingredient What's the fastest you've ever driven? 109? ish? Where do you go when you want to be alone? my apartment; or did you mean some place more special? Because if i tell you, then i wouldn't be alone, would i? Blonde, Brunette, or Redhead? currently i'm a Blonde; or were you asking my preference? The moon landing was... worth the effort I'd like to super size... my apartment Do you play any instruments? ish, yes; my piano skills aren't what they were What snack food can you scarf down a whole bag in one sitting? combos, cheddar cheese, plain or pretzel; always and forever Have you ever fallen asleep at work? oh yes; that's why i have a comfy chair and ottoman in my office Women are... ungeneralizable Is there anything you'd like to add before we continue? no, i'm good, thanks What was the best movie this year? My personal choice? Once Look around! What's the closest red object? my awesome red shoes Please buy me a... "pony, embossed on a yellow badge attached to the front of something called a Spider" - Nicolai; he said it best, i just quote him - constantly What was your worst fashion mistake? white cotton short shorts in middle school; horrifyingly enough there are people on facebook who might actually remember what that looked like. I believe in... love, education, hard work, my family, my friends, and the golden rule Which is worse? Nails on a chalkboard or lemon juice on a cut? ow. A recent poll shows a fifth of Americans cannot locate the US on a world map. Why do you think this is? why learn anything when you can look up the answer any time you like? Which side is your good side? the angelic side? I wouldn't mind being stuck in a closet with... christian bale What was your most cherished memory from the past year? there are too many choices to pick just one; it's a high class problem to have Do you fold your sheets or just scrunch them up? fold, then scrunch, then smooth, then repeat

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Where the sunsets are all breathtaking

Background Noise: Last Five Years
Last Visited: John Adams the mini-series based on John Adams by David McCullough
Random Thought: note to self: get massages more often
Mood: not quite out of vacation mode

I went on vacation! To one of the most beautiful locations in the world! And stayed in an awesome house! with a hot tub! and a fireplace! and a pool table! and i wrecked my ankles and shoulder learning to snowboard! er, um... yeah, actually that was really bad. I take back the exclamation point. Anything that provokes pain, jealousy, and more pain isn't really worth hyping up. Hmm, back on course: and i went to the spa! and the weather was wonderful! (see, isn't that better?)

Of course i have pictures, a ton of them, in two galleries:

	Tahoe & Squaw Valley Gallery; aka, even after i narrowed down the number of pictures i liked, i still had over 100.
	48Straight, Girl in a Box; aka, pictures of the art installation at 48Straight of, well, a girl in a box.

I'm so glad i went; i honestly didn't want to come back, but, such is life (darn my stubborn sense of responsibility). And, a few days of pain aside, i had time to read my book (John Adams, amazing), cook for the house, take a ton of pictures, and generally not think (too much) about work. All in all, i can't really complain. Ok, so, sure, we didn't get to stay in the house we originally reserved - but our replacement wasn't too shabby itself, so, all's well, etc. Sometimes it's just better to go with the flow.

I will absolutely have to return to Tahoe in the summer, for hiking, horseback riding, boating, and visiting Valhalla; but that's a different vacation.

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