My weekend in a nutshell: 

Friday night and Saturday day was all about friends. On Friday, I met my friend Irene in the city for goodbye drinks ( she's moving to Boston with her fiance for grad school). On Saturday, I spent the later part of the morning and nearly the entire afternoon at Zella in Lincoln Park to celebrate my friend Molly's birthday.

Zella has a ginormous beer garden, so it was the perfect place to convene on a sunny Saturday afternoon. They have a brunch deal that gives you bottomless mimosas, beer and bloody marys along with an item the menu for $25. I partook in this deal, although I didn't end up drinking very much alcohol since I needed to be sober for my drive home. It was a great time, though! I also got a sunburn. That was the only part of my day that was not cool. 

Before I left the house for Irene's drinks, I relished the Friday night pizza tradition with my parents. It included fresh cherry tomatoes from our garden, fresh basil and eggplant. It was a first-class pizza.. 

Skipping to this afternoon, I made protein pancakes after a long bike ride with my mom. I used this protein powder: 

Again, they turned out very good. I used bananas this time, but I didn't end up eating them because they were so mushy. I can't eat mushy bananas at all. Yuck. We have a bunch of them, but we're going to freeze them and later use them for smoothies. 

I also used a little bit of maple syrup. I followed the recipe exactly today. 

Jon came over tonight to pick up Libby (so sad!), so my dad cooked another great meal. I am so spoiled by living at home. He made polenta (rolled into a cylinder-shape and then cut into small slices) topped with manchego cheese. There were other grilled veggies mixed in there. 

There was also salmon. I didn't take pictures of the tuna steak or grilled romaine lettuce with baby bok choy with terragon, cherry and almond dressing, but it was all fantastic. 

LIbby spent her last night at our house sleeping on my bed. Just in case you were wondering, she is a huge Aussie fan. 

Today, we took all of the pups to Woofstock (not to be confused with Woodstock). It was a free dog festival in downtown Long Grove that was all sorts of fun. My mom works at the vet that sponsored the event, so she went early to help set up. My dad and I took the four dogs there for a little while just to see what it was all about. 

Downtown Long Grove is full of old buildings and antique shops, so it's always a fun place to go. When my family first moved here, I went to Long Grove Confectionery all the time for their giant chocolate covered strawberries. 

We got there before most of the people and dogs got there, but we knew it would be a good turnout. The weather was amazing!

We got free doggie treats from Page's Healthy Paws. 

We still saw all sorts of dogs. One of my favorites was this gigantic shepherd dog. He was huge and so sweet!

They had a folk band scheduled to sing, but we left before that all went down. We also left before the pup parade!

Before we left, Libby rolled around in the grass to let us know that she was having fun. 

Good times! My mom said that it was a great turnout. The weather could not have been nicer (unlike the poor East Coast). I bet the pups can't wait for next year!

I was flipping through Oxygen Magazine from June, and I found a protein pancake recipe. I haven't made any food in months, so I decided that today was the day to make a mess in the kitchen.

From Oxygen Magazine
Chocolate Banana Pancakes (makes one serving)
- 1/8 cup of low-fat cottage cheese
-1/4 cup egg whites (I used two eggs-worth of eggwhites)
-1.5 scoops of chocolate protein powder
-Nonstick cooking spray
-1 medium banana, sliced
-1 tbsp sugar-free maple syrup

1. Place cottage cheese, egg whites and protein powder in a blender and blend thoroughly
2. Spray pan and place over medium heat
3. Pour or scoop batter onto pan to make the pancakes. Cook on both sides until brown, or two minutes on each side.
4. Top with banana slices and syrup. Serve.

We don't have bananas or maple syrup in the house, so I topped my pancakes with Wallaby Strawberry yogurt. You can top them with just about anything, just like you would with regular pancakes.

I've never had protein pancakes before. You can tell that they're "healthy", since the only ingredients are cottage cheese,egg whites and protein powder. However, if you have the right protein powder, it really sweetens up the pancakes and makes them taste fine. My mom and I really liked them. They're easy to make, and they kept me full for hours (they should, with 46 grams of protein!).

While I didn't take a picture of the pancakes, I did get a picture of my lunch: tri-colored ravioli from dinner last night with grated parmesan on top.

I also fit in a full-body workout with weights for the upper body and "The Butt Bible-Level 1" on demand on TV for lower body. The woman who teaches the class cracks me up. I'll keep doing the workouts and see if I get good results. 

I plan on bumming around the house for a little while longer, and then I'm going downtown for a goodbye celebration/sad fest for my friend Irene. She's moving to Boston next week for graduate school. WAHHHHHH!!!! Another one of my other best friends just moved to China for a year to teach, so I feel even more abandoned. I guess I did the same thing to my friends when I moved to Australia, though. 

Happy Friday, friends!

Al is now back in Australia, and I started school again! Wheeeee! Isn't it wonderful when fun things end? Lucky for me, my schedule is much more normal compared to my summer classes. I actually have free time. Lots of it. Besides, I'm happy to be back in class. Am I crazy?

I had Lazy Blogging Syndrome (something I just made up off the top of my head) while Al was here, so I wasn't great about taking photos and posting them and all that jazz. Maybe you noticed? Just before he left, I whipped out the camera again. We got a hotel room downtown (The Sheraton on the river that we managed to get for a very good price- I HIGHLY recommend it) and spent a bulk of a Friday afternoon at Navy Pier. 

I love Navy Pier for what it is: a place to eat, drink, watch people and get some of most wonderful views of the city. Al liked that stuff too, but he was also overjoyed that the pilots were practicing for the Air and Water Show. The planes moved so fast that he could not get a good photo, so I had a lot of pictures of the sky. 

We grabbed lunch in the food court, and then we bought tickets for a Seadog Speedboat Cruise. We actually only had to buy one ticket, because a lady approached us while we were standing in line and said that she had an extra Entertainment coupon that allowed to to buy one ticket and get another one free. Bargain! This was the second time that a stranger has given us free stuff during our vacation. Perhaps we are just a lucky couple. 

We had time to kill before lining up, so we took advantage of the beer garden in the back of the boardwalk. No photos, but it was fun. We drank beer, and we met a woman who asked if Australia was near Switzerland. 

We were so happy that we went on the Seadog boat tour. First, we went out into Lake Michigan. We did a few circles and got a little wet in the process. I made Al sit on the end just for that reason. Water= bad for the hair. 

After the lake, we went through the locks into the river. It took a long time, because we had to wait for the gates to open, and then we had to stay inside of the locks until there enough of a difference between the height of the water in the lake and the locks. If nobody controlled this, then lake water would be spilling into the river. 

I didn't take many photos, because the river part of the tour was very similar to the one that I took a few weeks ago. Actually, we saw much less of the river this time. 

We still enjoyed the tour immensely and will probably bring the Aussie rellies (relatives) on it when they visit Chicago next  year after the wedding. 

It was after six by the time that the tour finished, so we walked back our hotel and freshened up. When we were ready, we walked into the River North area. On the way, we passed the new Marilyn Monroe statue. 

After dinner, we went to our friends Jessie and David's apartment for a mini engagement party. They were away during the big one at my house (see previous post), but they still wanted to do something special for us while Al was still here. 

Jessie's livelihood is baking, so she made us cookies. 

They also put out a veggie plate with dip...

...and some other yummy munchies (including homemade guac!)

Al and Irene 

Scott, Jordan, Alex

Pat, Jessie, David

It was such a fun night! Thank you Jessie and David!

I also want to say that Libby has been staying at our house for two weeks! I don't want her to leave. She sleeps on my bed all the time, and it's so cute. Jon is taking her back in two days :(

With Al here, I was basically in a vegetative state and didn't really exercise at all unless we were walking somewhere. I also didn't stuff my face, but I certainly could have been making healthier eating choices. 

Now that I am back on a somewhat normal schedule, I want to get back into being active and eating a healthy diet. I decided that I want to make next Monday through Thursday (and possibly Friday) a salad week! That means that I am going to find 4 to 5 creative and yummy salad recipes and post them on my blog. It's about time that I start making food again! 

Have a great day!

Inside of the box

Outside of the box

Poached salmon

Asian Noodle Salad

Turkey Roll-Ups

Grilled veggies

My dad's Cowboy Caviar

No caviar included

Tuna Roll-Ups

Chips and Mexican Dip

Plenty of wine, and plenty of beer (not pictured)

The screen room

What a great time! Thanks to my parents for planning a wonderful party!

Hellllooooo from Sonoma Valley! 

I'm actually not in Sonoma Valley anymore  (my blogging is way behind schedule), but just go with it!

On our second-to-last day in San Francisco, we spent the day in the sunshine and among the grapevines in one of northern California's glorious wine regions. 

We had the luxury of hiring a driver for the day who knew his way around Sonoma very well. We worked out a schedule a few days before, so we knew exactly where we were going. 

Our first stop was Gloria Ferrer Winery.

It's a west coast winery with a Spanish twist and has the best olives I have ever had in my life. No match.

They make a lot of sparkling wines, and our driver Jason highly recommended that we each get a glass. Sparkling wine at 11:15 in the morning? Yes, please!

Following the recommendations from the staff, we sampled the Brut Rose and Blanc de Blancs. 

Al and I both agreed that the Blanc de Blancs was the better of the two. The rose was not sweet at all, which was not what I expected. Al is not a big sparkling wine person, so I ended up finishing both glasses. I could have had many more of the Blanc de Blancs. 

We sat outside on the beautiful terrace while sipping our wines. They gave us olives and almonds to munch on. They told me that they used three different kinds of olives and mixed them together to get spectacular Spanish flavors. I loved them so much that they gave me a cup-full to eat in the car. I wanted to buy a jar to take home, but they only sell them separately. Bummer. 

It was a perfect morning!

Next, we went to Chateau St Jean, which was the most important stop of the day. That's where we are getting married next year!

We were both blown away by the property. It has an elegant vibe but it is also relaxed. For the first time, I saw Al get very excited about the nuptials. An outdoor wedding is exactly what he wants!

We had a meeting at noon with our wedding planner. We sat on the patio overlooking the winery while doing a top-notch wine tasting and discussing details for our celebration. 

At one point during the tasting, we got our photo op with a huge ass wine bottle on the steps of the Chateau. 

This is where we are getting MARRIED! I can't believe it. 

The winery gave us a list of the wines we were going to taste beforehand, and we had the opportunity to take notes on our favorites. I liked all of them, so I'm glad that my dad will make all of the executive decisions on which ones we will use. As expected, we can only use Chateau St Jean wines during the reception. 

I realllly didn't want to leave Chateau St Jean, but our wedding planner had to go and Jason had more exciting places to take us. 

The next stop, after a quick lunch of sandwiches from a market, was Loxton Wines. Not only was this a good winery, but it's owned by an Australian!

Aussie Pride. 

I also enjoyed the winery dog, Leroy. 

We had a great time tasting there and chatting to other friendly people. The owner was unfortunately on vacation, but Jason said that he would try to make sure that he's in town when all of the Aussies come next year!

Next, we went to B.R. Cohn. I was pumped about this place, because it's owned by the manager of the Doobie Brothers. Awesome! Jason said that they usually play their music in the tasting room, but they played the Beatles while we were there. I'm still okay with that. 

My favorite from the tasting was the dessert wine with chocolate dots on the side. I wish I took a photo of the tasting lists so that I actually knew which wines I was talking about!

Jason then took us to another room where we were able to sample olive oils and vinegar. Yum! I was in heaven. 

Jason then showed us the area where they have concerts. What a fun winery. 

Al was very excited over the collection of old cars. 

Beautiful winery.

Our last stop was Nicholson Ranch, but I guess my ol' silly self forgot to take photos. They have a waterfall that runs down the hills that we were excited about seeing, but then we learned that it only runs in the winter. Like most of the wineries, it's still a very picturesque property with fantastic wine. I recommend it if you go to Sonoma. I wish I had pictures, but take a look at the website!

I didn't want to leave the sunny Sonoma Valley. As expected, the temperature dropped 20 degrees Fahrenheit and we were covered by clouds as soon as we crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge. What is it with you, San Francisco? 

We got dropped off by our hotel, and we swooped by the Cheesecake Factory just to see how long the wait would be. Miraculously, it was only 30 minutes. We had time to run back to our hotel, drop off our wine bottles (yes, we bought wine), change clothes and run back to Cheesecake. My pager started buzzing just as we got back there. Impeccable timing!

We got a seat on the chilly patio. I wasn't excited about it at first, but I eventually enjoyed sitting there with the view and watching the activity over Union Square. 

I was still in a drinking mood, so I ordered a blueberry mojito. It did not disappoint. 

Cheesecake just introduced a brand new "Skinnylicous" menu that day, which is a healthier alternative to their other meal option on their monstrous menu. I found chicken tacos on there, so I got them. They were very yum. 

It came with Mexican rice on the side. No complaints there either. 

We split a Snickers Cheesecake. I planned on adding a photo of that, but when I scroll through my photos on the computer from the trip, they go from Mexican rice to puppies. I guess I forgot that photo as well. 

That's all I got from San Francisco! Despite my comments about the cold and overcast weather, I loved every minute of it down to the pain in my calves and bum from climbing the hills. I liked the city a lot, though I think I could happily live in Sonoma Valley! Who doesn't love sunshine and mountains and wine and cheese? At least I get to have my wedding there!

On our third day in San Francisco, we slept in and then went into uncharted territory. One of my friends from my chemistry class over the summer recommended a great lunch spot called The Grove  in Pacific Heights, and we learned that it was 30-minute walk from our hotel. It didn't take us through the most scenic parts of the city (ever heard of the Tenderloin? Not so great, and not a good place to walk around at night), but it did take us through Japan Town.  

I stayed there when I was little girl, so I recognized parts of it. We would have explored, but we were hun-gry!

Al didn't believe that I actually knew where I was going, but we found our place! Pacific Heights is an adorable little area with lots of non-commercial shops and restaurants to visit. I loved the decor inside of The Grove. It had a country-western-camping-healthy sort of theme. Don't worry if that doesn't make sense. It's a fun place. 

I also took advantage of the free wifi to check my e-mail on my phone. 

My friend said that she had the best BLT (sandwich with bacon, lettuce and tomato) of her life there, but I was very intrigued by the sauteed pear and gorgonzola sandwich. All sandwiches came with kettle chips and a pickle, but I upgraded the chips to a cup of vegetarian chili. 

I think that the sandwich was a great idea in theory, but it was so rich that I could barely finish half of it. I am a huge lover of the cheese the world has to offer, but there was too much cheese on there. The gorgonzola cheese, which is strong on its own, completely overwhelmed the taste of the pears.

Oh well. My chili was just great. I inhaled it. 

Al got a big-ass chicken pot pie that came with a salad on the side. He loved his lunch.

I would definitely come back here again! It's a popular spot, and for a good reason. The staff are friendly, the menu is diverse and the decor is a lot of fun. I just need to order something different!

After lunch, we had a difficult time figuring out what to do next. I wanted to look around the Height-Ashbury neighborhood, and Al wanted to go to Alcatraz. We settled on Alcatraz, but Al got exhausted by the time we were halfway there. All of the walking around and jet lag caught up with him, so we went back to the hotel to rest. 

While we did that, I made a reservation for dinner in Fisherman's Wharf at Cafe Pescatore. My parents went there a few times on their visits, and they can't seem to get enough of that place. They highly recommended it. 

Before that, I went to a quick 2.5-mile run along Market Street (I don't recommend it at rush hour- you will stop every twenty seconds for lights and have to weave in and out of crowds of people) and then got ready very quickly for dinner.

Instead of walking this time, we took the cable car. We had to wait a few times on Powell Street to find one with enough space on it, but it was worth it. What a hoot! I would never take it to work or anything, but it is a lot of fun for the tourists. 

We were an hour early for our reservation, so we planned on having a drinks and walking around before our meal. To our delight, however, there were plenty of tables open. We waited at the bar for about 15 minutes while chatting to a middle-aged couple from rural Illinois, and then we got our table. 

They gave us fantastic warm ciabatta rolls to start. 

For my meal, I got fettucini fruti di mare. It had salmon, clams, muscles, some sort of white fish and calamari. It also had big slices of olives and chunks of tomato.Everything was mixed in a white wine sauce. I was thrilled with this meal! Al also loved his food, which was spaghetti bolognese. I also plan on coming back here when I go to San Fran again, and I will want a repeat of this meal!

After dinner, we lined up at the cable car turn-around. Lucky for us, we didn't have to wait longer than 20 minutes. 

We were one of the first people in line for our car, so we got the choice of the lot. We really wanted to hang off the side since we are big dare devils. It was a good time! You just have to make sure that you don't stick your head out, or you might lose it. When you pass a car going the opposite way, you are VERY close to each other!

I have one more recap left, and that's for the wineries! I can't wait for this one!

Continuing on with the first part of our second day, our tour bus took us over the foggy Golden Gate Bridge. 

There were tons of cyclists and pedestrians going over the bridge. We had actually planned on renting a bike and going over it earlier, but it was cold outside and we didn't have windbreakers like everybody else had. 

Even with the fog, it's still the most beautiful bridge I've ever seen!

It was sunnier (and warmer) when we got to the other side. 

We parked in a touristy spot to take photos. I ran off to go to the bathroom (as all the good ladies do), and I gave Al my camera to take pictures. 

Even with the fog, the bay looked nice. 

We piled back on the bus, and I wrapped myself again in an Ikea blanket provided by the bus. 

We made our way into Marin County, which houses the richest people in this country. The cliff-side houses in Sausalito reminded me of the Italian Riviera. 

We got off our bus next to a yacht shop (that was our bus! the red one!) and got on a shuttle that took us to Muir Woods. 

We wove in and out of mountains, and then we were there about 15 minutes later. Like many things on the California coast, it was a pretty drive. 

Muir Woods is a forest full of old redwood trees, which are the tallest trees in the world. As you walk through the path, it feels like you are in an enchanted forest. The canopy is very thick and blocks out the sunlight, and it was utterly silent except for the people walking around us. We could not even hear birds. 

We had an hour to walk around the path, and then we made our way back to San Francisco.

 It was a hot sunny day in Sausalito, but it was very cold in the city. We high-tailed it to Ghiradelli's so that I could get a hot chocolate. I got a sea salt caramel hot chocolate, to be exact. 

So delish.

I sipped it up and down the hills on our walk back to our hotel until I got to the goopy stuff at the bottom. Then, I tossed it. 

It was nearly 8 pm by this time, and we were starving. We would have just walked into a restaurant, but I was still in my exercise clothes since I that we were going to go on a bike ride earlier. It worked for our day activities, but not for dinner! We changed at our hotel and made it to the Cheesecake Factory by 9. There was still over an hour wait for a table for two (what??), so we walked the streets in search of food. Everywhere we looked, we saw long lines. We finally found a table at Sears Fine Food. 

This place had a line-up out the door earlier in the morning for breakfast, but it was tame by the time we got there. We only had to wait about three minutes for a table. 

I ordered a small caesar salad and a bowl of  New England clam chowder. The salad wasn't overly exciting, but the clam chowder was great. New England clam chowder is usually very creamy, which I don't like. This had much more of a broth-like consistency, and the clam meat was good. No complaints there. 

I didn't even mind the creepy pictures on the wall. 

Sears is very famous for their breakfasts, so give it a go if you go to San Fran! We never got the chance to try it, because Al's not a very big brekky person. 

Day 3 coming up!

I took a lot of pictures on the second day, so I gotta split it in half! On Sunday morning, we wandered the streets in search of breakfast. We found a cafe a block away from our hotel.

Al got a muffin and juice, and I ordered a bowl of oatmeal (made with water and not milk) with a side of brown sugar and fruit. It was steel cut oats, which are the best. I added the bananas and brown sugar to my oats, and I ate the rest of the fruit separately. It was great fruit. Sometimes, you get unlucky with the stuff you get in cafes or restaurants!

We were also approached by two women at breakfast who were leaving San Fran that day and still had two days left on their travel passes. They just gave them to us. We were able to ride the buses and cable cars as much as we wanted without paying a cent. Bargain! Some people are so nice. 

We went back to Mason Street and braced the hills. I felt like I could have fallen forward. I felt like I was climbing the worst parts of Mt Lofty. 

This street, Filbert Street, was so steep that there were steps along the side for pedestrians. Steps always make hills easier 

We walked around Grace Cathedral on Nob Hill. It's a beautiful cathedral. 

We saw our fair share of cable car stop signs. 

Eventually, we found the crooked part of Lombard Street. We walked through the quiet streets for a while, and we knew that we found it when we saw groups of people gathered around taking photos. I guess I never knew that Lombard Street was so touristy! 

We walked down to the bottom, which, unlike driving, was pretty much straight down. 

We then walked straight north to Fisherman's Wharf. We saw parts of the area that we didn't see the day before.  I was pumped to see an In-N-Out Burger, because it's one of those burger joints that you never seen in Chicago! I got a cheeseburger from there the first time that I went to LA, and it was very enjoyable. 

We saw great views of the Golden Gate Bridge that were only interrupted by the fog. 

We then walked over to Ghiradelli Square. I remember getting ice cream from there when I was nine. How could you forget that?

Apparently, their hot fudge sundaes are well worth the calories. I thought about it, but it was pretty cold outside. 

We opted for fast and hot slices of pizza instead from a place down the street. Mine was covered in cheese and veggies. 

Then, we began our super fun tour of the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito and Muir Woods. We had to drive through parts of the city to get to the bridge, too.

We used the City Sightseeing company, just because their red buses are all over the city and there was a tour starting across the street from our pizza place. Our tour tickets were valid for 48 hours (we could use them as many times as we wanted in that amount of time), and we could hop off the bus at certain points to explore. If we were doing a city tour, for example, and they were only stopping in China Town for ten minutes but we wanted to explore longer, we could get off the bus and catch the next one. That way, we were not confined to a tight tour schedule. 

Our bus drivers were also very funny and informative. We had a great time. 

We left Fisherman's Wharf...

...and entered the glorious streets of San Francisco. We passed lots of beautiful Victorian houses. 

We went past the Palace of Fine Arts on the way to the bridge. Our tour bus was NOT supposed to go there, but I guess our driver really wanted to break the rules and show us something special. This structure was from the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition that brought millions of tourists into the city from around the world. This place was unreal. I wanted to jump off the bus and run around there...except there wasn't another bus to pick me up. 

That's all for part I!

Half Marathon Update

I decided that I am NOT going to run the half marathon. I didn't have enough time to train the right way, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to give up on my running! There are races all the time. Eventually, hopefully in the next year, I'll run my first half marathon. The timing just wasn't right this time. 

Stay tuned for more updates!

I have been to San Francisco, and now I am back with the Aussie! I got into San Francisco on Saturday morning at 10 am, which was an hour before Al arrived there from Sydney. I picked up my bag and walked to the arrivals area in the international terminal. I love airports where you can just walk from one terminal to another!

After our little reunion, we got a taxi to our hotel right next to Union Square called the Handlery. Al got a great deal from bookit.com. Our room was in the older part of the hotel and was very small,  but it was a fantastic location and had a nice lobby. Hotels can get very expensive in San Fran, so we were pleased.

Once we settled in, we walked down to the Embarcadero and strolled up the coast until we made it to Fisherman's Wharf. 

Fisherman's Wharf is a fun area! It's extremely touristy, but there are great views of the bay and lots of places to eat and shop. 

It was nearly 3 pm, but many of the restaurants were still packed for lunch. We ended up going the fast food route and got fried fish. Al got fish and chips, and I got crab cakes and chips. 

It hit the spot for the time being. 

After lunch, we found uninterrupted views of Alcatraz. 

We also found the sea lions at Pier 39.

We left Fisherman's Wharf after that, because we were freezing. We wanted to walk back to our hotel the adventurous way: over the hills. It was hard work, but we somehow found a bunch of stairs that took us away from the coast and up onto Telegraph Hill. It's a hill, if you can't tell from the name, so there were a lot of stairs. We finally found ourselves behind some homes and looking at beautiful gardens and perfect views of the water. 

Of course, I enjoyed the dog artwork. 

We almost made it to Coit Tower, but we decided to go back to our hotel. We figured that we'd have time on another day to go to the top (we didn't). 

The hills in the city are so steep, but it's always hard to tell in these pictures. 

We walked through China Town on the way back. If it wasn't for the fact that some of the writing was in English, I would have to second guess whether of not I was still in America. 

Actually, I felt for a lot of the time like I wasn't in America. San Francisco has a way of making you feel like you are somewhere very far away from home. Not to mention, we were always surrounded by tourists from all over the world. 

Of course, we saw a lot of cable cars!

We took a nap when we got back to our hotel, and then we went out for dinner. We tried to go to Cheesecake Factory in Macy's down the street (not so original, but Al likes his cheesecake), but there was a two hour wait. We went instead to Burger Bar in the same building. We only had to wait about twenty minutes. 

Each booth had their own TVs with a different sport. We got some kind of gridiron football championship on TV in our booth that wasn't quite the NFL. We never figured out what it was, but it was entertaining nonetheless. 

To drink, I got an Agave Basil Caipirinha, which had Leblon Cachaca, fresh muddled limes and basil and agave. I wasn't exactly sure what I was drinking, but it was STRONG!

To eat, I got the SF Vegan, which was roasted eggplant, roma tomato and sauteed peppers in between two gigantic portobello mushroom caps. 

I think it lacked cheese, but that would make it un-vegan! The fries on the side were fantastic. Forget about the fact that I had fries twice in one day. I was on vacation!

Part II coming soon!

I am leaving my house in five hours to to go San Francisco to meet Alastair. I am so excited that I can barely sleep. His plane just left Sydney, and he will land one hour after I land there at 10 am. It's 10 pm in San Fran right now. These travel times and time differences still baffle me.

Before I get going, take a look at how much cleaning I got done. This was my closet yesterday:

This is my organized closet today: 

I brought so many bags downstairs. I categorized my bags for garbage, recycling and give-aways. I got rid of so much stuff, and it felt great!

Before I go to sleep, I'll leave you with tonight's pizza:

Ingredients:

• Boboli pizza crust
• a mushroom medley of white, baby portobello, shitake and oyster mushrooms
• Trader Joe's corn salsa
• 2 oz goat cheese
• fresh mozzarella cheese
• grilled eggplant
• fresh cherry tomatoes (from our garden)
• chopped arugula 

Good night!! See you all in San Francisco!