Is this one of those boring "What I did with my weekend" updates? Oh well.

Hello to my poor neglected (as of late) blog and readers... I know I've been one of those aggravating non-serious bloggers as of late with infrequent posts. Somehow, I've been overwhelmed at work and not had time to parse through my many bytes of Internet reading to share with y'all. I've also been pretty busy at home. Although part of my business has been me watching Veronica Mars. And, lately, the OC, except now I'm sick, so I have an excuse.

Last weekend was a pretty grand success, and I was punished for it with a nasty cold, which is why I'm home right now instead of still at work. We started off with the inaugural "Dirty Apron Kitchen Club," a cooking club that my friend Peattie and I informally started. We had around 15 people there for it, which was more than I expected and a pretty hard crowd to manage, but still very fun. For dinner, we made stuffed shells from this recipe, which was really easy and really delicious and satisfied the Mom's manicotti craving I get periodically (although no raisins or nuts in it, which I think Mom puts in her manicotti? Oh my God, it's been so long since I had it. Hint). That plus a lot of wine and a salad pretty much sums up the menu. I was very aggressively managing the kitchen and felt kind of bad about that, since I tend to be an overly detailed person and many of my friends (especially not-quite-as-close friends) I think find it a little irritating. Still, the meal worked out and I'm really excited about the Kitchen Club in general. I can't wait to do a Passover menu and a St. Patrick's Day menu. YUM!

Saturday I went wine tasting with my friend Tina. Her roommate works at a country club and had arranged for a few free/private tastings. We had a private tasting (just the six of us in our group in a private room) of Terlato wines, a brand of Rutherford Hill, which was pretty fun and very informative. Every time I go wine tasting I learn a little more and am better able to ask questions and carry out a conversation. I decided I need to learn more about wine, though, since our hostess was making references to how certain wines were supposed to be homages to different Bordeaux regions and I had really no idea how true that was, etc. One interesting thing for me was that the first "flight" we tasted was very geographically based -- two whites from the Russian River and a syrah from the Dry Creek region. I knew that certain wine regions are better known for certain kinds of wine, but had never really thought very seriously about a wine being "a Dry Creek syrah" as opposed to a syrah. Forgive me if this seems stupid, but I finally made this connection the other day. (Suddenly I realized it was like single origin chocolates.) Anyway, we did that and then a tasting at Beringer, where I had only been once before when I was under 21 and driving through wine country with my dad and sister. Back home, Tina and I made dinner with Justin (Dad, we made your peperoncini shrimp pasta and it was a hit, except I don't have a pan big enough to stir it all up together like you do, so it wasn't melty enough in my opinion) and then went out for a bit. I ended up coming home and watching part of Moulin Rouge with Dan.

Sunday Justin and Laurel and I had brunch at Magnolia. I'd always heard they had good brunch and it's very true. I had the cardamom-spiced French toast with garam masala whipped cream and huckleberries. I rarely get sweet breakfasts but this one was really good. The huckleberries were a lot like dried blueberries, only more tart. We also got started on our strong beer tastings at Magnolia and got through three of them before it was time for me to get a manicure with a couple of other girls. I have to say I quite enjoy getting manicures and would like to do them more often. I know I keep saying that. I took a nap before heading out to Magnolia for the second time that day. (Yeah, I know, I'm not sure how this became an idea, but we did do it on purpose.) I was supposed to meet coworkers for more strong beer, except when I got there, the friends I'd invited greatly outnumbered the coworkers, and we ended up sitting on opposite sides of the restaurant. Oops. Still, the 8 of us crammed into our 5-person table had a great time and I had the best reuben ever. It was almost spicy. We closed down Magnolia and I came home to watch more Moulin Rouge. I should say that both Saturday night and Sunday night I watched Moulin Rouge and hung out with Braden and Pat, two guys that Ace knows through work, and who I have only once hung out with before midnight. I was up pretty late Sunday night, except for the fact that I periodically fell asleep on the futon, so it was no surprise when I woke up Monday with this headcold. Since then I've made a conscious effort to vegetate and have turned down two anticipated social events, but I'm kind of trying to save up so I don't suck at my job and so I can have fun this weekend. Blah.

So I'm now something like 12 episodes into the first season of the OC, and then today in the mail I got a package from Bethany containing the entire series of Sex and the City, which is contained in the most ridiculous fuzzy magenta booklet slipped into a plexiglass box and is probably officially my most absurd belonging, and I have a lot of absurd belongings so that is saying something. I have a sort of love-hate thing for SatC and haven't watched it since the series finale, which I am pretty sure I watched on tape in Cristina's dorm room my junior year, and I'm pretty sure I cried. But I'm pretty excited about this set on my coffee table. It's definitely good entertainment for sick Emily.

Fondue

Last night was a great success. The only hitch was the fact that we started eating around 10pm. Some shopping slowdowns and the incredibly amount of time it takes to chop tons of dippers and shred two pounds of cheese, plus the fact that I forgot the fennel and broccoli in my garden and had to go back, and then forgot the fondue pot and sent Dan running back (it is so useful to have a marathoner roommate). Still, the end result was luxurious and awesome. I used this recipe and it was perfect. There was a moment when I thought it was too liquid, but it goo-ed up very well with a little more patience. Basically I could live off of last night's menu. We had cheese fondue (with pears, apples, salami, bread, carrots, prosciutto and coppa from our charcuterie plate, blanched broccoli and white asparagus, and endive for dippers) and chocolate (with angel food cake, pears, apples, dried persimmons and mangos, pineapple, strawberries, and raspberries). My particular genius (if I do say so myself) was a butter lettuce salad with blood oranges, avocado, fennel and champagne vinegar. Then we had a variety of beverages, mostly champagne, with Chambord and rosewater and creme de cassis in it (not all together, obviously). Ace and I bought yellow roses for the table, and in general we all had a great time. I definitely felt privileged to spend this holiday of love with such a great group of friends. One of my favorite V-days.

last weekend

Last weekend was pretty damn fun. I was promising a roundup, so I guess this is going to be it. What was nice about the weekend was that I spent a lot of time with people I don't normally hang out with. Friday after working in the San Francisco office I went to Monk's Kettle, a new restaurant/bar in my neighborhood. It's actually kind of classy, which is weird because my neighborhood is sort of anti-class (in a very self conscious, hipster way). I mean, there are classy restaurants in the 'hood, but pretty much all bars are kind of dives. Monk's Kettle has a lot of pretty good beer on tap and in bottles, but we did wait for almost two hours for a table (luckily we had beer). I had a pulled pork sandwich for dinner. It was not amazing but not bad. Still, not sure how often I'd go back there just cause it's so crowded and not cheap, and Toronado has better beers anyway. But I went with two girls from my work and their boyfriends, which was fun and refreshing. Afterwards I met Justin and we walked up to the Knockout, where I'd never been before, for this kind of rad oldies/doo wop/soul night where we witnessed, among other things, a girl dressed in a sequined leotard and nothing else. She was rocking out hardcore.

I was up later than I planned Friday, so Saturday I woke up late and James was on our couch still (he'd crashed there the night before) and so he and Dan and I went to the Irving Street Cafe in the inner Sunset, which is basically a diner. I got two pancakes, two pieces of bacon and a scrambled eggs for $5.50!! Where can you get that anymore anywhere?! Dan was reminiscing about Illinois the whole time. The food was good, too. Pretty sweet greasy spoon stuff. The rest of the afternoon Dan and I watched Planet Earth, until I left for Berkeley. Peattie's brother in law was doing a reading of some short stories, and so Peattie, his roommate Greg, and I went to Triple Rock for beer and pastrami before the reading at Pegasus. Ammon (the brother-in-law) was the best writer of the bunch and I picked up his little self-published book for $5. Peattie's other roommate was there too with his girlfriend, so all of us San Franciscans, and Peattie's family (parents & sister) ended up at the Albatross, which as I understand it is pretty much THE grad student bar in Berkeley. They have board games that you can rent from the bar, and so we played a pretty good round of Scrabble. Peattie & I were on a team, and we ended up with two Ys, the Q, the Z, and the X during the course of the game and we won. I think Scrabble is way more fun in person than on Facebook, but you have to get it going so I'll continue with Facebook. We rode home in a VW bug which smelled like crayons (true story) and listened to Bohemian Rhapsody. It was pretty sweet, and I thought my night was over, but instead when I got home Ace was there with her visiting friend Charlotte and two guys I didn't recognize, drinking sake. I was up until almost 4am just hanging out.

Brunch at Boogaloo's the next day, where we were joined by the guys from the day before, Braden & Pat, and then afterwards Ace and Charlotte were headed to Sausalito and the rest of us decided, why not? Justin almost joined but didn't make the ferry, although he made a valiant attempt. Sausalito is pretty dull, but it's pretty and beach towny and we went to a game store that sold a bunch of children's books I hadn't seen in years, as well as "Hungry Caterpillar" stickers and mood rings, which I totally bought. (Right now, I am "romantic.") We had bloody marys on a patio bar, and then caught the ferry back, where the girls and I had dinner at Ti Couz (buckwheat crepes, I had one with ratatouille in it, YUM). The night ended with the first episode of "The Wire," which I watched with Justin because we are trying to be cultural now and well-informed about quality media. The first ep was really good, and I am already pretty hooked. Like I need more tv in my life.

Still, the weekend was great overall. I felt really good about stepping out of my comfort zone a bit. Things like hopping on a ferry on a whim are the kinds of things I want to do more in the city... that's part of what makes it fun to live there. Proximity to everything.

Some pics from the Saus:

The crew on the ferry (sadly Charlotte's eyes are closed).

Really.

On our way back to the city, the skyline.

Boat! I like getting boats in pictures because I'm a nerd and sailboats make me think of what it would be like to summer in the cape.

Lovely.
I got the bird on accident, but I like getting birds in pictures too. It's like I totally planned the asymmetry. There aren't any pictures of people because I felt weird documenting a hang with total strangers.

Breaking news

For those who care, my friend Justin finally got an apartment, with an apparently stunning view of the park. I felt the need to broadcast this. Finally!

Back in the saddle again

Well, I'm home again, in San Francisco. I won't lie, I love this city, but I was not looking forward to my return to it. I had a good, solid time in Whittier, and I felt rested and more centered and, if not happier, just... more level, I guess.

Highlights include:

I finally, finally watched "O Lucky Man," a movie that my dad has been referencing for as long as I can remember, and which only recently was released on DVD. Watching it had the same climactic import as when I first saw "Diner," Dad's actual favorite movie, which I had previously seen only in selectively edited segments. I had probably seen about half the movie multiple times before I ever saw the movie. By climactic import though, I actual mean that it was climactic, not a letdown like things that are built up that much normally are. It was a funny and bizarre movie, and Malcolm McDowell was really fantastic in it, and I gained new appreciation for him. "You have eyes like Steve McQueen." Also, young Helen Mirren is a fox.

Also on the movie front, I watched "Ghost World," which I'd actually seen before, with my sister, and hated. Here's the weird part: I think we hated it because we thought we were supposed to like and/or identify with the main characters. But the reality is they aren't that likable, so once you give up that sort of audience want, you can just relax and enjoy the movie, which is actually pretty damn good and funny. Steve Buscemi has the kind of pathos that Bill Murray normally is lauded for, only in perhaps a more surprising way. And as my dad and I noted, it has Bob Balaban in it, and who doesn't love Bob Balaban? (Once we thought we saw him in a London airport, but the man in question was on a trans-terminal hotel bus and got off at the Holiday Inn, so, you make your own conclusions.)

I have to admit that several times during my stay I thought to myself, maybe those Victorians had it right -- perhaps a young woman staying at her parents' house until marriage isn't a half bad plan. Just because I got more sleep and ate better, and never had more than 2 drinks a night. Health! A novel concept.

I also managed to get two books read, which was less than I would have liked but still a pretty good total, especially since the second book I read in about 24 hours. (It was "The God of Small Things," and yes, Casey, you were so right, I hate myself for not reading this years ago, it was fantastic. Although that doesn't feel like the right word... I think I summed it up best on my goodreads.com review: "beautiful and sad.") So that's 2 "From the Stacks" books down! And I gained some new appreciation for the whole "From the Stacks" concept. I felt like the books I read were so good because I was being rewarded for paying attention to them at last (like children who patiently wait for a cookie and get the whole thing, instead of getting half of it faster, which is actually some famous psychology study that I don't remember any more details of, even whether or not the study was connected to intelligence or aggression or blah blah blah). I really did feel a smug sense of moral satisfaction upon finishing each one, like I was being a good reader at last. Now, at home, I am looking at my bookshelf and it's kind of daunting and tempting all at the same time. I tend to look at it grumpily, because it doesn't have exactly what I want at whatever time, but comparing it to my bookshelf (my own bookshelf) at home I really do feel like I have a great collection here. (My bookshelf at home is surprisingly full of YA books I've read already, or books I read -- actually read -- for class, whereas this shelf is primarily new acquisitions and guilty leftovers from classes I somehow winged my way through.)

A surprising highlight? Going through all of the papers and souvenirs and toys and stuff that have collected for my entire life in our garage. I found so many little hilarities. I only wish I'd had the time to get them together and scan them or something and send them to people who would appreciate them. I don't think Bethany reads this, but damn, were we hilarious girls. And I re-discovered my whole academic history, too, from first grade to parts of college, and that experience was sort of horrifying and comforting at the same time. Because! I was looking at papers or notes from just a few years ago -- junior year -- and I realized that I had learned more since then and therefore understood them better. That is a very comforting thought, that whole lifelong learning thing that is so easily mockable.

So now I am home. I made myself a BLT for a very late lunch, and then spent my afternoon and early evening watching "The Lives of Others," which was pretty heartbreaking, and also made me realize that I really have terrible understanding of what it was to live in the USSR during the Cold War. I sort of always think that the real atrocities of communism happened like, prior to 1970, and anything afterwards I think of as falling into one of these categories: China, air strike drills, the fall of the Berlin wall (which is a nebulous non-Communism Communism), and Russia itself (somehow this is different in my head from East Germany, hence my terrible ignorance). So basically I just had no idea how bad it was to be part of the Eastern Bloc. This was a good eye-opener. My "dinner" was some of this leek-potato soup Dan made and a bit of a scallop (also made by Dan). It was supplemented by a bit of wine, though, so I'm not starving myself or anything. Plus, Rayna (a certain someone's ladyfriend; I am reluctant to categorize her in print since it's really not my deal) was here and I feel like I actually got to talk to her for the first time sort of. Usually I feel like I'm babbling at her, but tonight I felt that there was mutual babble, which was good, and I like her, so that's also good.

I am, however, of course, rethinking my life (when am I not?). I hereby vow to do more things "for myself," as they say, and I am sticking to my ban on coffee and soda (except on special occasions, and I still have to figure out what the hell I'm going to order in bars if not a coke-and-something), and I'm going to finally exercise again. That will be a big step, and I think I'm actually ready for it. At least, I say that now.

Anyway, at the moment I still kind of feel like I'm on vacation. I lounged all evening, and it's a little hard to realize that I'm going to be at work in 12 hours. (Yikes!) So with that, I retire. I've got a plan: either my annual "Love Actually" viewing, or a few episodes of Arrested Development, recently rescued from my parents' house (I had loaned them like a year before) and now back in their rightful home. Hurrah! All is well.

Oh, I'm sorry, does "Moment of Zen" not count as a post?

I think it does. But at any rate, I am posting again, briefly again. I had an actually lovely day, or, I should say, a lovely evening. My friends Matt and Julia took me out for a belated birthday dinner at Tamarine, in Palo Alto. I'd never been there, and always wanted to go. It was delicious and didn't feel too fancy, even though it was filled with Silicon Valley business people. Probably my favorite thing food wise was the scallop curry that Julia and I shared (we ordered strategically, as Matt doesn't eat seafood, and Julia rarely eats red meat, and I eat everything, and it worked perfectly). The curry had three squashes in it - the little yellow regular squashes, zucchini, and butternut (or maybe it was yam...?). Whatever it was, that butternut thing was cooked to perfection - I could have eaten a whole meal made up just of little perfectly-soft-firm-teeth-just-slide-through squash cubes. Ok, possibly not, but damn, that was good.

What was better was just having a quiet dinner with Matt and Julia. The past year of my life has brought a lot of new people and Matt and Julia are two of the best. I feel calmer when I am with them, more centered, more certain of myself and what I want. It's amazing when other people can do that for you. I miss Matt & Julia since I moved to the city, and when I say I miss them, I mean I miss hanging out with them, but I also mean that I feel a sort of lack where I think if I saw them more often I wouldn't feel it. (I guess it's a lack of that calm feeling.) So it's good to see them.

Christmas lights are starting to go up on my street. I'm excited. Even Dan, who last week claimed he hated Christmas, bought some lights and a timer and has all kinds of artistic plans, apparently, for their hanging. I am plotting Christmas cards already... and for some reason despite my epic to-do list of things this fall, I think I will be able to get going on my holiday gift-giving plans. Perhaps the grayer weather, with its non-dazzling sunlight, is calming my mind a bit and I am seeing clearer. Whatever it is, I feel pretty happy and centered tonight, and that's a wonderful thing.

I think they call this a weekend roundup

I had a great birthday weekend. It was long and luxurious and I can't believe it's over.

It started Friday when a work colleague/friend presented me with a box of black & white cookies from The Grand Bakery in Oakland. He had been with me during a failed trip to a bakery near the Google SF office, which claimed to have black&white cookies but actually had chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips. Liars. So Marcin (the friend) ended up tracking them down and going to Oakland for them! I was pretty floored, and baffled by the sheer quantity and size of the cookies (5 of them, about as big around as my hand from wrist to fingertip). I still haven't eaten them all and my waistline thanks me.

Then Dan and I went to dinner with Ivan, Dan's old roommate who moved to Princeton this year for school. We discussed how baffling and strange the east coast prepsters are while eating dinner at Weird Fish, a restaurant I've wanted to go to forever. I had a good grilled trout, but the star of the show was definitely Ivan's fish & chips. I'll have to go back for that. Friday night I went to bed at 10:30pm, after watching only 30 minutes of The Last Picture Show. (I pictured Mrs. Popper very, very differently, but am withholding judgment otherwise.)

Saturday, as you know, we went wine tasting, after a truly ridiculously decadent and messy breakfast of Tartine pastries in the car. I'd never been to Tartine before, so this was a random last-minute inspiration on our drive to pick up friends in the Lower Haight. I of course had a croissant, which was pretty much pure butter and delicious. I'm not a big breakfast pastry person besides croissants and scones, but, I do love my croissants and they are a special treat.

WINE! We were ahead of schedule despite the Tartine diversion, and made it to Cline, our first winery, at 10am. Then on to Schug, where we got a free (empty) half-barrel of wine for garden planting. To fit it in the car, which was already full of 5 people, we had to take out the spare tire, nestle the barrel in the spare tire well, and replace the tire inside the barrel. It was a pretty amusing operation and I was glad I am friends with male engineers who can fit wine barrels in my car.

The best wine we had was at Elyse, and appointment-only place with an adorable friendly wandering dog on the grounds and an $80 cabernet sauvignon for tasting (complimentary tasting, too). I loved it, but talked myself out of the $80 purchase. I just don't think $80 wines are in my budget at this point, but it was quite excellent. They gave me a wine glass for my birthday. (My comment: "Does it come full?" I actually meant that seriously, but only because the way the guy offered it was a little confusing.)

Continuing the theme of "Nothing that is not addictive should pass your lips" that we'd adopted earlier on, we hit up Taylor's Refreshers in St. Helena. I have been obsessed with Taylor's for about years. We discovered it on my very first trip to Napa, senior year spring break, when Cristina, Rachel and I were all quite tipsy at the Coppola winery and decided what we really needed was chili cheese fries. (I think that was Cristina's decision.) That turned into, we really needed a burger. The guy at the counter recommended Taylor's and we were sold, immediately. I was re-sold on it when I discovered the sweet potato fries. So Saturday's meal was a patty melt and sweet potato fries. Yum. Wow, I think I ingested like 40,000 calories this weekend. I don't normally eat this well (or, um, poorly).

After lunch, we finally had all our party with us except for Dan, who was off getting keys to the cabin we were going to stay in at night. He was absolutely wonderful this weekend, by the way, getting everything set up for the trip even though it was all my idea and really just a shameless celebration of myself (I did pull the birthday card once or twice, with mixed results). We went to Heitz, which was inattentive and meh, and then Saddleback, which was lovely. They have picnic tables outside and they bring the tastes to you in the sunshine, scant yards from the vineyards. Mumm was next, where they were closing in 15 minutes, so we just bought a bottle to share and overtipped the waiter because he was nicer than everyone else there. (Birthday card did not work there.) Finally we went to Peju, where the guy hosting our tasting did weird impromptu raps (he was about 60) and freestyled about (what else?) my birthday. It was sort of mind bogglingly ridiculous but I let it go.

I guess I shouldn't make you read about my entire weekend, but it was great. Maverick was absolutely delicious, and then on Monday after Lucie and I woke up, we had Burma Superstar for lunch (no wait, it's great) and then I spent a bunch of money at Green Apple Books (another birthday gift to myself) and got an Eggling at Park Life. We basically meandered all day, and took a lot of time to do not a lot. At the Candy Store, back in my hood, we got matching little owl dolls made of burlap (I have this weird obsession with me and Lucie having a few matching trinkets like the matching ivory elephants in the Secret Garden, so we have these two Buddhas for some reason and now these owls), and I got a new wallet, which is great except I realized it doesn't have any places for cards... I need to find a place to buy extra inserts for cards. (Any ideas?) After that we went to Therapy where I bought a coat, a shirt, and a necklace with an E on it made from a 1935 typewriter. We made brief stops at the Valencia standbys, the pirate store and Paxton Gate, before heading to Berkeley for tapas & pisco sours (in my case, at least). Somehow we ended up at the diviest of dives, with my cousin Owen, and then at what he called "the ultimate grad student bar" where my friend Peattie was hanging out. Back in the city, Lu and I met two more friends from high school for a few drinks. I had this sudden flash of what my life would be like if I hadn't left Whittier. Strange.

To top it all off!! When I came to work this morning, I discovered a giant Happy Birthday banner and confetti all over my desk. My coworkers pretended that we had all had a big party together (the banner had a bunch of things on it like "The party was awesome" and "Crazy how those candles burned off your eyebrows" and there were cupcakes with already-burned candles in them). It was pretty damn funny and it came with an Anthropologie gift card. Consider me flattered and pleased.

Happy Tuesday.

Napa = great success

James and me on a HUGE chair.

This, as Dan says, really sums things up. After the last winery we opened a bottle of Mumm in the parking lot and stood around listening to Broken Social Scene (played via karaoke machine and iPod in the trunk) drinking it and hanging out in the twilight.

lovely.
They made me pretend to throw the empty bottle into the vineyards.

This was our cabin. Five of us, $125 for the night, $170 worth of food at the grocery store, and all fire lighting. It was amazing.