On Thursday, we bid farewell to our dear Ali, who will be relocating to Sugar's NYC office for the next several months. I know she's super excited, but I for one want to see her back in SF at the end of the summer. In any case, I hope she has an amazing time. We were also celebrating Nicole's well-deserved promotion. This dynamic duo are the oldest members of our sales team.
On Saturday, we had breakfast in the city at Ella's. It has been years since we've been there and it was as good as I remember it. The chicken hash was a foregone conclusion until I saw some eggs benedict-type dish with pulled pork, avocado, and chipotle hollandaise.
Afterwards, we took the kids to the Cal Academy of Sciences. The kids had been there before with Kate, so Olivia actually showed us around. This was the first time for me and Grace. Although I used to live very close to this location, I had no idea that this existed in Golden Gate Park (go figure). The Academy was temporarily moved to downtown SF for several years while this new facility was under construction. It is really impressive and well-done. It would take us many, many visits to see everything, so we'll be back again for sure.
Grace planned a weekend full of ... work activities. Okay, at least they were fun ones. The West Coast summer associates started recently and gathered in the Bay Area for the weekend. We had dinner in Woodside on Friday night (location was beautiful). On Saturday, participants could choose between the Cal Academy of Sciences or the De Young art museum. We chose the former - more on this in a bit. Afterwards, everyone met in Golden Gate park for a picnic. Lucas and Olivia made many new friends and had a great time. What a beautiful day out.
On Saturday, May 29th, we embarked on a week-long trip to the East Coast. Olivia was a little restless as a toddler. Lucas at 18 months does not like to sit still for 5 minutes, so I was a little worried about a 6-hour transcontinental flight with him. He was as active as he could be, given his seat was our lap, but overall he did great. They both slept for a little over an hour, which helped. What didn't help was that although we landed 30 minutes early, we weren't able to de-plane until we were 15 minutes late - further evidence that JFK is the worst airport in the world. Virtually every trip to or from there convinces me of it.
When we finally did get off, we had the stroller loaded with both kids and assorted gear. We got into the tiniest elevator to go to baggage claim, and Danny Glover decided to squeeze in with his Smart Carte and contorted his way in so the door could close. He was nice enough to hold the door for us as we got out. Coincidentally, this is the second time I've seen him on a SFO to JFK flight.
First stop, Tenafly, NJ to spend the weekend with cousins and family.
Charles and I decided to try something completely different for Mother's Day dinner: Il Fornaio ... in San Francisco! Okay, we're creatures of habit. But, the menu was a little different, and more importantly, there was a lot more interesting things to do outside for our kids, who don't sit very well. Lucas, especially, wanted to run around. Olivia and I took a couple laps around the Levi's Plaza fountain. At first, I insisted on holding her hand, lest she fall in, which would have been unpleasant given the 50-degree evening. Then, she insisted that I didn't hold her hand, so I tried to follow a step behind. Sure enough, on the 7th lap or so, she misjudged a step and stepped right between the concrete blocks. It could have been a lot worse (for both of us) - phew.
Dinner was enjoyed intermittently. It was nice to get together with the families, nonetheless. Happy Mother's Day to Addy, Grace and all our moms!
Clara and Mike hosted Nicholas' Dol at Yank Sing in the Rincon Center. He chose the calculator, which Mike says means he'll be a VC. Happy birthday, Nicholas!
(did a little post-party shopping in Union Square afterwards).
Sunday, December 13, 2009 - Saturday, December 19, 2009
Burlingame & Lafayette, CA
We returned to Presidio Bowl for our Holiday Party, except with at least twice as many people than in 2007. Happy Holidays.
(either my eyes are getting worse, or something is wrong with my auto-focus - sorry about that).
More farewells...
Euni and Eric recently announced they were moving to San Diego. Euni got a great offer down there and they wanted to be closer to family, which is understandable. Michelle, Allison, Jon, the Huangs and us all met up with them in their soon-to-be-old-hood at Goat Cheese Pizza in Potrero Hill. We're going to miss Euni, Eric, Donovan and Beckett, but I'm sure we'll still get to see them from time to time in SF and/or SD. Take care!
As is the trend, most of our friends in SF eventually return from whence they came. Marty is the latest (and most surprising) to follow. On Saturday, October 17th, Simone organized one last get-together at La Barca in the city. We couldn't find a sitter, so I represented the family. What I didn't know was that I was representing the entire 650 of the Man's Meal crew. Don (the instigator) brought some props, some of which I had to edit out from the photos. Somehow, the mask and cape were a big hit. I did sense special powers from it.
Marty left for Michigan on Monday. Man's Meal won't be the same without him. He's been wearing the same shirt at every Man's Meal for the last decade. Word is, he never washed it. Talk about special powers...
We're going to miss you, buddy.
On Saturday, October 17th, we went to the city to have lunch with Ellie & Sandor, who were in town for a wedding. It was so nice to see the newlyweds and we're so glad they made time to see us.
On Saturday, September 26th, Shirley hosted a Mexican-themed birthday party for Jon at his place. This was not only the first time visiting Jon's new place in the city (which is actually Norm's place), but also the first time meeting Shirley and her friends, too. Many of the usual suspects where there, including Nicol, who is recently engaged (congrats). Ky's cousin, Duc, was also visiting from Hawaii. Good times. Happy Birthday, Jon.
On Saturday, September 25th, Ben threw Tam a surprise birthday party at Hotel Vitale in San Francisco. He's been planning this for months and he pulled it off flawlessly. Tam's entire family was in from Nebraska to celebrate with her.
Grace was heavy on the wine and light on the food, so we made an 11pm stop at In-N-Out on the way home. I think we were the riff-raff.
Happy birthday, Tam!
Carol, Fede, Sebastian and Chiara were all visiting the Bay Area from Spain. Part of our motivation for getting home early from LA was to meet up with them and the gang at a BBQ in Golden Gate Park. After a quick stop at home, we got back on the road to head to SF. It took us a while to find them in the park. It was a little chilly and the kids needed to eat, so we were happy to rally the troops and grab dinner in the inner sunset.
Cindy hosted a birthday party for Jay at the Tipsy Pig in San Francisco. It was cool out that day, but the heat lamps kept things toasty outside. All of the food was really good, especially the bbq pork sliders and mac 'n cheese with bacon.
I've seen this photo of Jay on his cake before, but I never noticed what he was doing with his hand. Very funny.
The bigger news that they failed to mention at the party was that Cindy and Jay got engaged the day before. We're very happy and excited for them!
Lisa and Brian invited the family to Katie's birthday party at SF Gymnastics. We left the crawfish boil at Crissy Field to give us plenty of time to feed Lucas and find the place. We headed out of the park and into Cow Hollow. Lucas fell asleep, so we decided not to feed him. I looked up the address on the iPhone and the map put the pin out in the middle of the bay, just to the west of Golden Gate Bridge. Then, I entered the address into the navigation in the car and we were on our way. We drove through Pacific Heights a bit to ogle at houses. As we followed the directions, they led us directly back to Crissy Field, about 300 yards from where we just left.
We've been going to quite a few "gymnastics" oriented birthday parties lately, but this place was a little more advanced. It was huge and had an amazing array of activities and apparatuses. It was great to see all the families and especially the kids playing together.
Brian was very generous with the cake portions, so the kids had to burn off a little more energy after the pizza and cake. It was a great party. Happy Birthday, Katie! Thanks for having us!
Emily, O'Brien, Simone, Marty, Kim, Kurt, Jen & Don hosted another Crawfish Boil at Crissy Field on Saturday, May 30th. It's hard to believe it's been 2 years since the last one they held at the same spot. From what I understand, they cut down on the amount of food because they were eating crawfish for a year. Olivia and Lucas got their first good look at a crawfish. It was great to see everyone, including Stephanie and Jack, who we haven't seen together since Grub's wedding. The Patches and Idemas also made it up from the 650.
Olivia had fun playing in the sand and kept saying she wanted to go "into the ocean." A wave did sneak up on her while she was standing on the shore. That was the end of that outfit (thanks aunt Jen for that one). I will now refer to it as Olivia's Cobra Kai outfit. This may be the first time she's worn black.
Good times! Thanks for having us.
No one loves Brian's birthday more than Brian. But all of those who love him, also enjoy the occasion. Lisa invited the usual suspects to celebrate at one of Brian's favorites, Bistro Aix. It's hard to believe it's been 5 years since we celebrated his big 30th birthday there.
Thanks for having us. It was great to see everyone. Happy Birthday, Brian!
Though they've lived in the Bay Area longer than most of us, Jack and Hans made their first ever appearance at Man's Meal. It was great to see them and catch up. And, for the first time ever, I won the closest to the bill total bet (after having to borrow the ante). Woo hoo.
Grace's friend from Stanford, Rebecca, invited us to the SF Zoo on Saturday, Jan 31. It was the first time I've been to the SF Zoo and really any zoo for as long as I can remember. Olivia was into seeing all of the animals and making their respective noises. There's still a lot of animals to see, so we'll have to go back soon. It was a beautiful day. The Zoo is right next to the ocean, so we drove up the Great Highway, which I also hadn't done in years.
Despite living in San Francisco and the Bay Area since 2000, I had never stepped foot on the Golden Gate Bridge or the Marin Headlands. We started the morning at the beach at Crissy Field. We ran into Kelly and Eric and met their adorable kids. Of course when it was time to leave, Olivia didn't want to. We had lunch at Barney's Burgers (food 5, service 0) before heading to the Golden Gate Bridge. I had every intention of walking all the way across, but Lucas got hungry, so we only made it about 1/3 of the way. As we set out, every bridge police car scrambled out of the lot and onto the bridge with sirens blaring. Traffic was stopped in both directions for a bit. I wasn't sure if it was an accident or worse if someone had jumped off. Luckily it was a bike accident on the other side and it appeared that the person was okay. After a drive over to Seacliff, we headed over the bridge and drove up to the end of the Marin Headlands. Olivia and I explored some tunnels and came out on the other side to some wonderful views of the Pacific Ocean while Grace fed Lucas. We drove through Sausalito and then headed home. It was a stunningly beautiful day - perfect for our SF adventure.
Our dear friend, Arthur, has the same birthday as Olivia. He turned 40 this year. Brian and Arthur's wife, Heidi, went all out to throw him a lovely and memorable party. Arthur loves to cook, so what better place than a private catered dinner on the top floor of the Williams-Sonoma flagship store in Union Square. Brian brought in all the food and beverages and Gary cooked everything to perfection. Special shout out to Brian Dhatt for his delicious creamed corn. Along with the usual suspects, it was great to catch up with Rebecca and Chris Lien. One unnamed guest saved $12 on parking.
Happy Birthday, Arthur!
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