Weekend Slumber Party in San Fran

After graduating high school, my friend Sharon went off to college in Philadelphia. When college graduation came, I naively thought that she would then be able to join me in the lovely state of Utah (not that she really wanted to). Sadly, she got an awesome job and relocated to San Francisco. Not so sadly, for a while her job sent her on business trips to Utah where I would get to see her for brief weekends. Unfortunately, her work no longer sends her back anymore but this gave me a good excuse to finally visit her! 

So the morning of Friday, June 10th, I hitched an early 6:30 am ride to the airport so that I would be there and  ready for my 8:35 flight. For the first time, my flight was delayed...but only an hour so no biggie. I promptly started a new book, Ender's Game. Although behind, my flight landed without any glitches in the San Francisco airport where I claimed my hot pink luggage and waited for Sharon to come get me. 

Once leaving the airport, Sharon showed me a little of her neighborhood and took me back to her place to drop off my stuff and freshen up. Then, in true Stacie and Sharon fashion, we went out on a lunch date. Sharon had picked a breakfast/brunch restaurant called  Mama's for us to try. We got two dishes and shared. It was very tasty, minus the mayonnaise (which was not mentioned on the menu) on the Monte Cristo sandwich. Warning: much of this vacation consisted of food. Sharon and I share a love of food and trying new  dishes.

Monte Cristo with homemade raspberry jam

Scrambled Florentine and some SF sourdough

After brunch, we went to Union Square for some shopping and to ride a trolley car. Sadly, the line for the trolley cars was really long and so we didn't have time to ride it - or the patience to wait. We decided instead to just shop around and try out the mall. 

At least I saw one up close and personal

Display of It's a Small World children wearing Nordstrom clothing.  It was cute

Later we went home and relaxed a bit. I met Sharon's roommate Eugi, and then the 3 of us went out to Japan town and had ramen. Mmm. This was real ramen people, not the dehydrated and over salted taste of what is top ramen. After dinner we went back to the apartment, watched a movie, met a new person, played "Girl Talk Jenga" and stayed up talking til 3:30 am. 

We all slept in late the next day. In the afternoon we went to a place with yummy Italian pizza. Then off to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and take some pics. Too bad it was super cloudy and chilly. 

Next to 100% Sweet Cafe - this cute little Asian restaurant full of funky Asian desserts and holiday decor that never seemed to come down, no matter what time of year it was. Also where Eugi ordered a hot chocolate (because it was cold outside, remember) and was asked if he wanted his hot chocolate cold or hot. Uh? 

Red Bean Icee and  a bowl of Mango Gigi.
I wish there was a place like this in Utah! I'm already craving a Red Bean Icee.

That night we played Scene It, went out to see the new X-men movie, ( I'd give it a B-, nothing spectacular but it was entertainment) and then ended up at IHOP at 1 am. Yay for the international passport breakfast!

The next day we slept in again, like we should be doing on a slumber party weekend. We then walked to the Haight Ashbury street fair. I'd say this was one of the highlights of my trip. It was neat to see all the different vendors and creative stuff around. I bought some canvas paintings which I love. I also got to try an arepa with  black beans and plantains and a side of yucca fries. 

Some random people dressed up at the street fair

Look how packed!

The paintings I bought for a great price
Amanda Miller

After the street fair, we walked around the embarcadero and enjoyed the scenery. I also had my first celebrity spotting. whoo! 

that's Rob Lowe

Bay Bridge

We had some Indian Pizza that night for dinner and rounded off my trip at Butter for karaoke night. And no, I did not sing, but they certainly did...

The rest of Sunday night was spent talking in Sharon's room until we both fell asleep. Monday morning was time for me to go home :( Sharon took me to the airport on her way to work. I arrived at 9:40 for my 11:40 flight. I mention the time because my flight was delayed yet again on my way home. And not just once, but 4 times! I finally boarded the plane at 2:50. You remember how I started that book at the airport 3 days earlier? Well by the time I actually got home on Monday, I had all but about 40 pages read. Now I know why there are so many book/magazine stores in the airport.

So that sums up my lovely weekend in San Francisco. I had so much fun visiting Sharon and meeting her friends. It was great being driven around all weekend, seeing sights, and eating awesome food. Thanks Sharon and Eugi for entertaining me and letting me stay at your place!

Surprise Dinner

Today at work I got a call from Matt just to ask me when I would be off work. I told him by around 6:30 and that I would be home about 7. He then told me that was all, and ended our conversation.

Well when I walked in the door I was very surprised to see this waiting for me on the kitchen table!

Yes, my Matthew cooked me dinner! Let me explain why this was such a surprise and I was so thankful for it. 

1. The first obvious, I loved not having to make dinner at 7 after working all day. 

2. I had only eaten once so far, and that was a lean cuisine at noon. 

3. He has only "made" me dinner one other time that I can remember. And when I say made, I mean his mom made lasagna for him to use at our dinner and he bought some pre-made salad for the intro. It was still thoughtful and wonderful, but let's just say it didn't showcase any culinary skills.

4. Matthew DOES NOT like fish. Not only did he choose to make me salmon, but he opted for fresh instead of frozen. On top of touching raw fish for the first time, he seasoned and marinated it before cooking. His seasoning and cooking technique were fantastic by the way. I have made salmon for myself before and it didn't even turn out this good. He even threw in a little breaded shrimp to make it a whole seafood spectacular.

While I was eating dinner I looked around the kitchen and realized he had done the dishes and started the dishwasher. wow. Then as I was eating, the timer on the oven beeped. Quickly he got up, put on an oven mitt and pulled an apple pie out of the oven! (It was the Marie Callendar's frozen kind and oh so good.)

I was super impressed. I could definitely get used to this. 

Because I like taking pictures of my food

So today Matt and I went out to eat with my parents and the monkeys. I was attracted to a cute little cookie that made me think of this.

So I took a picture...

Too bad it was filled with some strange jelly substance. Not so tasty, but super cute!

Oh, and because I took another picture of my food a while back...is anyone familiar with Iceberg shakes? A couple months ago we happened to be craving a shake after a wal-mart run. I'd never been to Iceberg but it was close so I figured, why not? I ordered a "mini" cheesecake shake. Upon getting my treat, I noticed the name is a bit of an understatement.

Yes, that was about 3 times bigger than I was expecting and I could not even come close to finishing it.

Yes, it was the smallest size available. 

Yes, I did see a girl walk to a table with one in each hand. 

Yes, they were both for her.

In Lieu of Washington...

Matt and I set out for a couple nights in Ogden as our spring break getaway. I came home from work on Monday, packed a small bag, and we were on our way - but not before stopping at a gas station for snacks of course. About an hour later, we made it to our room at the Alaskan Inn in Ogden Canyon. We settled in a bit, watched some Cash Cab, took a nap, then went out for dinner at El Matador. This was a Mexican restaurant recommended to us by someone who lives in Ogden. Apparently it won an award for best Mexican restaurant in Ogden by City Weekly or something. It wasn't too bad, but I wasn't overjoyed by the place. After dinner, we drove around to explore the city a bit. When we were satisfied with that we headed back to our hotel and "rented" a movie from their collection.

In the morning we ate a complimentary breakfast served to our room, which was pretty good, especially the raspberry hot chocolate. We then got ready for the day - which was an interesting experience in a room that had only a tub, no shower! We then left the hotel and decided to drive further up the canyon to satisfy some curiosity. We drove through Eden, around Huntsville, and eventually up to Powder Mountain. We then decided to go to the movie theater and see if anything of interest was playing. At first we couldn't find the movie theater, then we realized it was in the mall. I didn't know there were theaters like that anymore. We went inside, walked around the mall a bit, and then looked over movies. Nothing was of interest and we decided we were hungry anyway, so we went to Historic 25th Street and ate lunch at Rooster's. This is where I ate the best pizza I've ever had. It was a prosciutto and asparagus pizza with a cream sauce and fresh tomatoes. Mmmm... After lunch, we drove around some more and again found ourselves back at the hotel, watching tv and taking a nap. No Offense to all you Ogden people out there - but we didn't find a whole lot of activities. We finished off our night by eating dinner at Artisan Grille and "renting" another movie. The getaway ended with another complimentary breakfast and swift check out. 


Although I was pretty disappointed about not being able to go to Washington, we still had a good time in Ogden. And since we weren't gone for the whole week, Matt was able to play in the XRHL championship game, where his team took first place for their division. 


Sadly, I'm not that great at remembering to bring my camera for pictures. I wish I would've had one of my awesome pizza. But oh well, enjoy the few we have.

Rooster's Brewing Company and Eatery

Artisan Grille

There were a few people finishing up their meals when we entered, 

but they left before we ordered so we actually got the whole restaurant to ourselves.

Alice and the Blue Plate Diner

On Tuesday, Matt and I met with some some Subaru friends for dinner at the Blue Plate Diner. If any of you have watched Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network, you may have seen the episode where they feature this restaurant in Salt Lake City. I was very excited to try it, since I've wanted to go ever since seeing the DDD episode. I got "The Greek" eggs benedict and Matt ordered his favorite hamburger - cheese, bacon and avocado. We thought the food was pretty decent, but I was far from impressed with the service. (Yes, we did have a party of approx. 28, but we also made preparations in advance and were pretty much the only people there.) And although it was fun and tasty, I left wondering if it was really worthy to be featured on a Food Network show.

On Wednesday my mom and I went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D.  This being my first experience with the newer 3D movies, I was a bit nervous I'd get motion sickness. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that after the first little bit, I hardly remembered I was wearing the glasses for it. I really enjoyed the movie, I feel like Tim Burton gave the story a cool twist and creative perspective. The costuming was really awesome. I also think it would be great fun if the Cheshire cat would consider being my pet.

Thursday we went to dinner with my mom and the monkeys. Those kids are pretty funny. I think every time I see them they get so much older. Milo told us some very interesting things while dining. One of them being that Mason told him ice cream was ice and scream mixed together, which Mason quickly objected to. And in response Milo replied, "Well you said it was ice and something mixed together."

Today I spent most of the working - but got a tasty jamba juice, courtesy of my mom.  And tomorrow looks like it'll be the same. Next week is Spring Break for Matt, Yipee! We did have some plans to go to Washington for the week but sadly, it didn't work out last minute. Now we'll just be using some gift certificates I got for my birthday in order to stay a couple nights in a hotel. At least it will be some sort of getaway. And on the bright side, we won't have to get the girls babysat. By girls I mean our rats, Lyla and Roxy.

Ok, that's enough rambling for now. This was mainly just to keep up with my new year's resolution and stay on top of blogging.

P.S. Sorry if there are numerous punctuation, typos, and/or grammar errors in this post. It's late and I don't really feel like proofreading.