OK…we’re back now.

We arrived in SF on Saturday night around 9 pm.  It’s back to reality for now.  The weather is cooler here but the rain is trippin’ me out!  Why does it seem like it’s raining everywhere in the world right now?  Anyway, Mommy is still here and we took her out for some Dim Sum and Thai food on Sunday.   But that was after we had McDonald’s breakfast as our first meal back in SF.  I truly missed having an American breakfast of eggs, meat, and potatoes.  The cappuccinos were good there but I also missed regular coffee.  Ah…there’s nothing like brewing my usual cup of coffee and enjoying it with a Big Breakfast.

I tossed and turned on Saturday night and woke up every hour until 4 am when I simply gave up.  It’s now Monday morning and I managed to get 6 hours of sleep but I got up again at 4 am.  I even stayed up all day without a nap and this still happens?!  I’m sitting here in the dark with my laptop on as Mommy’s sleeping in the livingroom and Jes is still…wait…I hear a stirrin’…nevermind…he’s awake now too.  I’m tempted to go to work super early but I probably won’t.

Photos are slowly getting processed and I should have updates on each city this week.

Italy Part 1: Rome, Sept 3-5

Hi Everyone!  We left Rome yesterday and had a wonderful time.  The only bummer of the whole experience was the heat and humidity.  Other than that, we saw plenty of famous and historical sights and wanted to share some of them with you.  I figured it would be best if I did this while 1) I have internet access and 2) it’s still fresh in my memory.

St. Peter's Basilica

We took the bus to Vatican City and I was in awe of St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s so beautiful and grand and I couldn’t help wonder if the Pope was around.

Sistine Chapel

We also visited the Vatican Museum where the Sistine Chapel and the famous “Creation of Man”.  Despite the signs and a guard yelling “no foto!”, I managed to sneak a shot.  Thankfully it came out.

Colosseum

Our hotel was just around the corner from the Colosseum and it was crazy huge inside and it’s amazing that it’s still standing.

Trevi Fountain

At night, we enjoyed hanging out at Trevi Fountain.  It was my favorite place to hang out.  I got a gelato while Jes got a bottle of Peroni beer and we just hung out at the fountain people-watching.  It was crowded but you wouldn’t be able to tell by this photo.

There you have it.  It’s like a quick Cliff’s Notes version of our first few days in Italy.  We are now in Florence and this hotel has free internet access so maybe I’ll post more updates soon.  We just finished our first day here and have a 5-hour cooking class planned for tomorrow.  Should be fun!

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JES!!!

EuroTrip!!!

We’re on the plane waiting for our plane to take off. They’re making us sit here on the plane while their doing some “minor maintenance”. Seriously??! So now we are about 40 mins (and counting) behind and I’m now appreciative of our scheduled 4-hr layover in Detroit. Should be enough time for us to get there.

In the meantime, I’ll share our itinerary:
Rome 2 nights
Florence 3 nights
Cinque Terre 2 nights
Milan 2 nights

We’ll be back late on Sat. Sept 12th.

Jes wants everyone to know that he got stuck in the middle seat. Again.

Morning Run; Afternoon Fun

I'm ready to go!

This morning Jes and I ran the Plate to Plate 5K, which is a really easy/flat course that follows the same route that I run almost everyday.  The bonus is that just before the 3-mile mark, you turn into the baseball stadium, run along the outfield wall, cross third base, run across Home Plate, run across 1st base, and then finish the run across the bridge where we started.

t-shirt

It was a pretty fun run considering it had a pretty late start time of 9 am, was located right outside of my house, and comes with a free ticket to the Giants game the same day.  I also managed to squeak out a 5K Personal Record of 27:41 (unofficial, from my watch).  Yipee!

Giants Dog

In the afternoon, we went back across the street to enjoy an afternoon at AT&T Park.  The game started at 1:05 pm so we had lunch there: Giants Dog with all the fixins, Gilroy Garlic Fries, and Chicken Tenders.

juice box

I also snuck in my “juice boxes” and the cup I got from the last game for two “free” beverages to compliment my lunch.  The morning started out rather gray and cold but the clouds blew away and we were left with a gorgeous day at the park.

view from our seats

Our nosebleed seats had an awesome view of the field below, the harbor right behind, and the Bay Bridge in the distance.  We also wandered the different levels and watched the sailboats and kayaks in the bay.  I have no idea if the Giants beat the Rockies or not but it was still fun to watch and hang out.  This might be a run that’s worth repeating year after year.

Here are more photos from today.

Beak-Proof

Auntie Beak and Jack

This evening I went to the Sokol-Juns’ to babysit Jack for a couple hours.  When I arrived, Jack was seated on the couch watching a Sesame Street DVD.  So, I plopped myself down next to him, opened my bag of McDonald’s, and offered him a french fry.  The parents left for their dinner and the two of us continued to share a small bag of fries, watched Cookie Monster and his friends dance around, and were as happy as could be.  He went to bed surprisingly easy tonight without a squeak out of him and I spent the remainder of the evening watching TV and surfing on my laptop.  Unfortunately, their house has some super duper baby-proof outlet covers that even stumped me.  My Facebook status might as well have been:

Bee-Too-Bee (how Jack says ‘Auntie Beak’) was too weak/lazy to get the cover off so the laptop ran out of juice and she took a nap until the parents came home.  *sigh*

I’ve taken the covers off before but for some reason I couldn’t manage this time.  Oh well.

See You Soon

Ranee's Exit

My dear friend and co-worker Ranee is moving to NYC next week and I had a week of denial.  Yes, she won’t be back on Monday and she’ll be clear across the country but I was determined not to cry.

Team Tiger

dinosaur

To keep things light, the girls and I just got really silly at work and took lots of photos.  On Friday afternoon, we all wore dinosaur stickers and danced around the office once we were all done for the day.

The Girls

On Friday afternoon, we had a goodbye party for her on the front patio of Park Avenue.  We had a good turnout, which made for a nice group photo.

Group Photo

We gave her a few gifts to take to NYC with her including a t-shirt that said “I hella heart Oakland” and a wad of cash labeled as “Cab Fare”. We’re hoping she’ll wear it to a Yankees game one day.  Haha.

t-shirt

The gift that she was most touched by was a photo book that I put together online for her.  It had a glossy hard cover like a yearbook and I spent all week having everyone in the office sign it.  It was tempting to write “K.I.T.” and “Have a cool summer.”

Gordo

Afterward, a few of us went to Gordo Tacqueria and I gave her a NYC Zagat guide in return for the SF Zagat that she gave me for my last birthday.  I also sent her away with a NYC Moleskine so that her monkey-butt would have a map of New York without making her look like a dorky tourist.  My burrito really hit the spot after a drawn out Happy Hour and crazy day of work.

Ranee…I’ll see you soon in New York.  In the meantime, have a cool summer.

Here are photos from this past week.