Weekends: Around the World

We really made the most of this long weekend. It feels like I toured the world food-wise (Chinese, Swedish, French, German, Japanese) and did a triathalon (swimming, biking, hiking). This is going to be a long one :)

Rob and I got a slow start on Friday night with Chinese takeout and episodes of Weeds downloaded on Amazon. Rob woke up early on Saturday to get a head start on his bike down to Palo Alto, leaving me to a leisurely morning with cold chow mein, hot coffee, a long bath and these crazy plum blossoms on the tree next door. It looks like snow!

We met up in Palo Alto at 11:00 to help Jean and Trent (with baby due in April) move from their temporary studio to an apartment with Stanford faculty housing.  They didn't have much to move - so we spent most of our time assembling  furniture and organizing the kitchen. Their new place is so cute!

Took a break (and advantage of the hot weather) to swim in the complex's pool and hot tub.  Will definitely be back for that again soon!  Then headed back to Ikea at 4:30 for more supplies. I love, love it there.

Thanks to their special deal offering free meals when you spend $100 - we had both a late lunch and a hearty dinner at the store.

Four hours later, the four of us emerged with a sofa, bookcase, picture frames, a bedside table, shower curtains, baskets, tablecloths and muesli, among other things.  And, a plan for turning their kitchen bar into a bookshelf built-in.  Rob and I stayed to help carry and unpack the big stuff, then drove home late.

Another lazy morning Sunday with the paper and coffee in bed.  Rob and I motivated at 10:30 to ride the tandem bike to Marin.  Despite the warm Saturday and bright sun it was so cold out.

Decided to cut the ride short and have a nice brunch at Le Garage in Sausalito instead. Eggs benedict for me, croque madam for Rob and fries to share.

We rode home over the bridge and took a quick detour to visit friends home with a sick baby.  By the time we arrived back at the apartment, I was frozen solid.  Hot bath, cozying up with blankets and a hot shower in preparation to brave the cold again for dinner with Greg and Kevin. While waiting for a table at Suppenkuche, we grabbed beers and pretzels at the outdoor beer garden on Octavia.  Thankfully they provided heavy wool blankets, but it was so cold, my nose actually disappeared.

Massive Bavarian Wirthaus dinner once we were seated.  Sausages, potato pancakes, weiner schnitzel, spaetzel, sauerkraut  bratwurst...the works! (You might be getting concerned about now with the amount of food we put away over the weekend. Both of us have insane metabolisms. Scientists should really run some tests. It's not natural!)

Woke up early on Monday morning and got a head start on some house projects. Rob took off for mountain biking while I hung curtains, cleaned and transferred a set of Japanese prints picked up at an estate sale to new frames.

I took the bus across town to hike with Nicole. It was even colder than the day before at Crissy Field - brr! We walked out to the Warming Hut for tea.

Warmed up after 5 miles of walking with a really delicious healthy brown rice poke bowl at Pacific Catch.

Nicole drove me to the new Trader Joe's on Hyde Street and we loaded up on supplies.

Back at the apartment, she helped me hang new curtains and we had a girlie tea break with the good china.

Rob returning home late from his ride - one of his friends broke his arm on a big jump and they were in a Marin emergency room most of the day.  Casual dinner for the three of us: broccoli pasta, green salad with avocado and crisp white wine.

Whew...told you it was a very long weekend!