i just returned from a lovely trip to san francisco late last night. i went out to celebrate my good friend caitlin's birthday - very belated - and meet the new "nephew" Luke. it was a wonderful trip! caitlin actually came to chicago on saturday for the first hawks game and so we flew back together. when we landed we went to chinatown for dinner and got delicious food!!! afterwards we went to a place called candy bar. it is heavenly. they have sweets, alcohol, fancy sodas and games. i got a pb&j thing that had peanut buttery goodness inside a pastry with fresh berrys and jam and carmelized peanuts. DIVINE. i had a mexican coke too - the best! we played some connect four and then went home and crashed. the next day we drove to san jose to the winchester mansion - it's a totally wacky mansion that the winchester widow built - she thought she was being haunted by ghosts so she made it confusing for them by having windows in the floor, stairs leading no where and doors that led to a big drop outside. it was super fun to do with caitlin and totally our style of a touristy activity. after that she took me to a bar in the marina for food and the hawks game. we had a good time rooting for our home team and chowing down and they won! phew! after that i insisted she show me famous houses so we went and found the painted ladies (opening shot of full house), jerry garcia's house, the full house house, and my personal favorite - the house from mrs. doubtfire!!! then we got ben and jerry's and saw sex and the city two. it was a wonderfully full day and i loved every second! trekking around san francisco with barely any idea where we're going in foggy mist trying to find silly houses reminded me of the comedy road trips we used to take. in college we would decide to take 4 hour trips randomly to see our favorite comedians and always, always get lost! but oh so fun!
the second part of my trip involved meeting my unoffical little nephew, luke. rob's sister amy was so kind to pack up luke and the car and come get me from caitlins and to take me back to her place in foster city. foster city is just south of the city and much less foggy and very sunny. i got to spend some quality time, ask a lot of questions about how amy is feeling, what luke's like, what parenthood is all about and anything else that crossed my mind. ame made delicious sandwiches for us and i got to try to convince luke to not hate me - he cried a lot that day when i held him. later, amy kindly drove me to caitlin's work and then caitlin and i went to the ferry building for our yoga hike. i found out about hiking yoga on sfweekly.com. it starts at the ferry building and then you go on a few very, very uphill hikes on pretty san fran streets. you do yoga at the top of each hill. the walks upward were very challenging but satisfying. the yoga was also pretty challenging but lovely. the views you could see from so high up were incredible and the paths we took felt very special and unique. i can't wait to do it again sometime! afterwards caitlin took me to her favorite seafood joint in the castro and holy hell, it was good! we split crab cakes appetizer and then i got almond crusted halibut with mashed potatoes and veggies. TO DIE! then we went home and she introduced me to the vampire diaries. i could see how it's addicting and it's not as horrendous as twilight. the next day amy came by again to pick me up for the day. this time we went for a little walk to starbucks. every time i visit i am blown away at how gorgeous it is in foster city. they live next to the canal system and along the way there are lots of pretty houses and flowers. i just think how lucky luke is to grow up in such a beautiful area. he's going to be a total little fish - wind surfing like dad i bet. we had a nice lunch and then walked back and did little photo shoots along the way. luke didn't dislike me as much this day and let me hold him for extended periods of time without crying. success! it was so fun to spend so much time with luke and amy. amy is such a natural. she is an amazing mama and when i saw tom for just a few moments but he is equally fantastic with luke. i'm so happy to be able to see them during this time when they're figuring it all out with such ease, love and patience. it's just so happy. luke is the sweetest little guy. he already has such personality! he's very strong and good at moving his head around and his arms like to fling around a lot. his little chin quivers when he cries and his lips make the most perfect circle when he yawns. i love him. can't wait for their visit in july!
it was such a great, stress-free trip. similiar to florida. just lots of quality time and good food. i can't wait to go back some time in the fall.
will post pictures soon!
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