Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Hanging with My Homies



I
got an
email
from my
homie,
Gail,
with
an invitation
to lunch
at
in Berkeley
with
our two
other
hometown friends
Melissa
and Nancy.

Nancy,
who lives in Japan,
is
actually
"chef-ing"
a few
long nights
in the
kitchen
at
Chez Panisse,
while
finishing up
her own
cookbook.

I must back up at bit...
I grew up
with
these
fabulous
women!
I think we even
went
to Nursery School
together
...
then Laurel School
then
Encinal School
then
Menlo Atherton High School
....
We lived
at each
other's
houses,
rode bikes together,
had crushes
on the same guys
and
shared
many
of the same
growth
perks
and pains.

Toulouse and I
drove to
Santa Cruz
to hook up with Gail
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I
Gail is my homie,
yup,
she is!
We share so many memories

Gail is a new grandma.
This is her
Mia
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We drove to Berkeley
together
and met
Melissa
and Nancy
at
Chez Panisse.
Chez Panisse
has always
been
on my short
bucket list
of
restaurants
to try
before
I die.
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Before
I introduce you
to my
homies
check
out
this menu

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This is Nancy.
She
is
playing
in
Chez'
kitchen for the
next
week
or so

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And this is gorgeous Melissa
when did we meet,
girl?
in Kindergarten?
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Sadly,
Gail
was parking
the car
..
didn't catch a
candid
of her


But I did catch
a shot
of
my
heavenly
salad
cucumbers and beets with creme fraiche and chervil
IMG_0330
and
the
butter bean salad with celery and bottarga
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We
all
inhaled
our
own
individually
beautiful
and
delicious

Pizzetta with artichokes and rosemary
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Sorry, Nancy,
I had
to
highlight YOU
in
those
glasses

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A
delightful
catch up
on
our lives,
our families,
old friends
and
the 'hood

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I tried
to get
a
few
Random shots
of
the
restaurant but it was really busy
..
tried
not to embarass
myself
too much



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Sunday, September 19, 2010

Taming the Second Sister

Cerro San Luis
AKA
AKA
Madonna Mountain
is the
sister
second
from Islay.

Annie and I started our trek up
the mountain from
(the best doggie park in SLO)


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IMG_0274


One of the nice things about hiking in SLO
is that mornings
are generally
cool
often times
foggy
and
the perfect weather
for hiking
You see the trail?
That is one of three
(or four)
ways
up
the mountain
IMG_0293

It is really not a
REALLY
tough
trek
...
It is
much tougher
than
Islay
though
and
I
did
huff and puff
quite
a
bit

That's Annie.
She hates when she hears my camera
clicking
behind her
IMG_0276
You couldn't see
the
"cerro"
(the top)
as
it was
really foggy

IMG_0277

but you
could
look
west
towards
Los Osos
and
the other
sisters
and
have
a beautiful
clear
view
IMG_0280

Laguna Lake
and
the
Irish Hills
were still
fogged
in
but
the view
was still
quite breathtaking

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Look
to
the
east
and
you see
Islay Hill
the airport
and
the Edna Valley

IMG_0289

This is about
three quarters up..
see the trail?
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Huffing and puffing
is the breath
pattern
at
this
point
and
then
ta-da
the
TOP!
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The views
sans
fog
are
alarming
spectacular!
Annie and I
posed
and
patted
each
other
on the back,
and said
"good job"
and
we headed down.

It is a
bit steep
in some
areas
so
you
really need
shoes
with
decent
treads.

IMG_0291

the hike
is
about
three
miles
up
and back


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The
next
Sister
will
be

As Annie is heading
back
to
to finish
up
her
senior year,
Toulouse
and I will need to grab another hiking buddy
to
tackle
Bishop's
...




mademoiselle petit soleil

Toulouse newest friend, Mademoiselle Petit Soleil, just had a face lift and had her colors done to be quite "ooh la la"
more about Mademoiselle P.S. later
(she is the new Costco car - lots of space!)