verbicide | orinda, oakland, and 55 minutes in san francisco

When your trip starts with a free upgrade to first class, you know it's going to be a good trip.

Orinda
I landed at Oakland International, early, and my SIL Sarah came by to pick me up. We went to pick up Little A (4), Nephew extraordinaire. Damn he's cute. So so cute. I hung out at the house with SIL Sarah until it was time to pick up Big A (7) from first grade. These kids are growing so fast, it makes me realize that seeing them once or twice a year is simply not enough. We came back home to play Monopoly (which Big A is obsessed with right now). Eventually my brother came home and we all went out for dinner at their favorite local Chinese place.

The kids are hilarious. Energetic and absurdly intelligent. And don't even get me started on the cuteness. As rambunctious as they are at home, they are incredibly well-mannered outside. I am a proud auntie, but they really are amazing kids. (Even when they wake me up at 7:30AM.)

Sarah put the kids to bed and walked back to the living room (where we were about to watch the Prestige) and said the kids were bawling because they just found out that I was leaving the next day. It was very touching. So I went in there and calmed them down and Sarah and I watched The Prestige (why the fuck was this not up for Best Picture? The Departed? Really? --more on this later). J tried to watch, but passed out in the first ten minutes.

The kids pounced first thing in the morning and Sarah was hilariously gleeful about getting to go to the gym and leave the kids with me for the morning. There was more Monopoly and hanging out, then Sarah and J both returned and we went to watch Little A's soccer match.

He's such a wee creature, smaller than the other kids on his team (some who are 1-2 years older than he is) but he was pretty adorable. It was more fun than I would have thought.

We head back home and I grilled some pizza (in the goddamn rain --you go to fucking California in February and you want to escape the damn Seattle weather!) and played blocks with Little A until Amy came to pick me up. I had just gone to the bathroom and apparently the very sight of her made Little A burst into tears. (He knew she was coming to get me.)

Not getting to see them so often, I have to admit it was really delightful that they remember me and that we enjoy each other so much. Because. They. Are. So. DAMN. Cute!

Oakland
It was great to see Amy --I can't believe it's been a year since I've seen her. She had some horrible car drama going on, so there was some car wrangling but almost immediate La Pinata consumption with Amy and Martin. I really think that when I die, I would like it to be right after a meal there because I don't think I'll mind so much, then.

I ate with wanton abandon. (tortilla chips, beans, rice, and the carne asada quesadilla)

There was more car wrangling and then we went back to their place to have a nice mellow evening with the dog and tv. (I LOVE their dog, the adorable Murphy.)

Also Martin's done heaps of work on the place and it's impressive. I'm jealous--I want him to come over and fix up my place, too! I don't know if it's because Amy and I lived together for so long or what, but I feel more comfortable in her home than anyone else's. I feel more comfortable in her home than my own brother's even.

The next morning, we made plans to visit the Bittersweet Chocolate Cafe for spicy hot chocolate, and then Amy treated me to a manicure/pedicure on Piedmont. We went to lunch again to La Pinata, where I ate the same exact thing and nearly swooned with joy. Then, back home to watch the entire Oscar pre-show, the Oscars, and then the Barbara Walters special. (I don't mess around with the Oscars.) I didn't find it as long or boring this year as other people have reported, but I continued my tradition of being very pissed off by some of the choices. I'll save that bitchy commentary for another (potential) post. I did call most of the races, think Pan's Labyrinth was robbed in a number of cases, and was pissed that The Prestige wasn't up for a dozen awards because I think that and Pan's Labyrinth were the most exceptional movies I saw from last year.

Martin was incredibly nice, and after busting his ass all day, came home to make up dinner, including homemade hummus and pita bread, pizza, and chocolate souffle.

San Francisco
Sunday morning, Amy and I drove to Scharffen Berger (in Berkeley) for a tour of the chocolate factory and I bought a bunch of chocolate for the folks back home. We took the BART to the Powell station in SF and walked (in the rain, and cold, and wind!) to 'Wichcraft.

As annoyed as I was with Coliccio through both seasons of Top Chef, I have to say his restaurant was pretty awesome. Great space, great branding, great service, and really great food. We ordered the fried egg, gorgonzola, bacon, and frisee; the meatloaf and cheddar; the bbq flank steak; and a cup of pureed lentil-parmesan soup. Everything was tasty, the bread was amazing, and I don't have a single negative thing to say about the experience (except that they need one in Seattle).

We turned around and took the BART right back home. The whole trip took about 55 minutes. Crazy, huh? I haven't been in SF since the Bay to Breakers a couple of years ago, and even that wasn't so much 'being' in SF as walking up crazy hills and then collapsing back at La Pinata.

I can't remember the last time I really hung out in SF, except maybe when I lived there.

So, completely full, Amy and I went back to her places to chill with Murphy until time to leave for my flight. I was ecstatic because I was able to move my seat up from 19D to 8D. Jeff's beautiful face was waiting for me at SeaTac and we grabbed dinner, caught up on our weekend, and I sacked out with the kitty last night --happy to be home.

It was a great trip, it went by at the perfect speed (not so short I didn't get to spend time with the kids, not so long that I was homesick).

I'm determined to do this more often, because I really want to stay connected with those adorable kidlets, and I should really see Amy (who is an official member of the family at this point) more than once a freaking year.

Next time, though --I'm checking the weather report before heading out there!