I heart Coldplay...
There is so much to be said in this blog of mine...June is always thought of as a busy month...and this year is no exception. Let me backtrack about 2 weeks...
Date: Saturday, June 4th
Place: The Yard House
Occasion: Luis hosted a surprise 24th birthday party for yours truly....
I have to say that I felt like the most special person in the whole world...
Tons of people showed up...
I got TANKED...
Luis bought me Coldplay tickets (yikes!!)...
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who made an appearance...it meant SOOOOO much!
A huge THANK YOU to Richard. Larissa, Andy, Tiffany, and Meera for my larger-than-life bottle of Belvedere Vodka - which we all have to get together to enjoy...(and I am sorry it has taken me so long to say a proper thank you!)
Thanks so much to those who helped me save face when I was not feeling so hot toward the end of the night...
...and most importantly - THANK YOU TO LUIS, who made my birthday really exciting and one not to be forgotten.
My actual birthday was the following wednesday. I treated myself to the new Coldplay cd and I am utterly enamoured with it...I swear to all that is good in the world that one song in particular was written to fit this stage in my life...so amazing how music can be so unifying and universal...Anyhow, I digress...
My birthday itself was mellow and happy. The cabinet here at work bought me a dozen long-stemmed orange roses, which were absolutely beautiful. The fragrance flooded my cubicle and I loved every minute of them. That night I went to dinner at Mr. Stox in Anaheim with G&P and Luis. Very swanky - very special - very good - very fun. I got a balloon and a photo when all was said and done and a free ice cream/marshmellow dessert thing that was really good.
Friday the 10th marked a surprise trip to San Francisco, courtesy of Luis. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, but told me to plan for an adventure. We ended up at the airport and at the last possible minute he showed me the tickets and we boarded our teeny tiny commuter plane to SFO...(**Note, avoid McDonald's Chicken Selects and ginger ale - the combination can be lethal.)
The weekend was utterly amazing! We stayed at the very swanky Omni Hotel in the financial district. (Although while on the plane he had me convinced we were staying at Dustin's house, which would have been cool too, but made it that much more of a surprise.) We went to Lucky 13 that night and drank with Shannon and Dustin, which was so money. I love them both and hanging out with them is sheer comedy. Many drinks and many laughs were had...We hit up Killowat and after we had polished our last drinks, we went to Taqueria Cancun for grub burritos.
Saturday morning was a little sluggish from the get-go...Luis and I lounged as long as we could before we had to leave for the next element of my surprise began. That surprise was a fun-filled day at Alcatraz. So rad! I had been there as a kid and had forgotten all the interesting history and stories behind "The Rock"...We took tons of pictures and if I can figure out how to do it, I will post them...After the rock, we headed to Fisherman's Grotto and feasted on clam chowda in a bread bowl...so yummy! After, we decided to ride bikes over the Golden Gate bridge and take a ferry back from Sausalito, but time (and my increasingly out-of-shape physical limitations) only permitted us to get as far as the Palace of the Arts...It had been at least 6 years since I had ridden a bike, so that caused a little bit of tension in the beginning...But the old cliche is true: "It's like riding a bike - it naturally comes back to you"...They weren't lying...
We hustled from pier 41 to the Omni to get ready for our 8:30 dinner reservations at Farallon - a seafood recommended by Dustin - which was sooooooooo goooooooood! We had incredible lobster bisque and such great fish...(my mashed potatoes were incredible...) At the end of dinner, we found ourselves utterly exhausted from the day's activities...We were going to take a nap and meet up with Dustin, Shannon, Tony, Crystal, Karen, Nick & Darren. We ended up going to this place in the Mission called The Beauty Bar, which was rad. It was this little hole in the wall that is a bar and a nail/beauty salon all in one. During the day = salon...At night = really rad bar. I got elbowed by carzy dancing guys in suits, but they were fun to imitate, so I let it slide and pretended to dance like them a little. We split from the group and Elbo Room and headed back to the hotel - I was so tired I couldn't think straight...
The next morning Luis and I walked to Union Square to have breakfast at the place called Sears Fine Foods. OH MY GOSH - SO GOOD! I highly recommend!!
We went back to the hotel, packed up our ish and met up with Dustin, Shannon, Nick & Karen at Zeitgeist...I need to express my newfound love of this establishment, which in my opinion really embodies the spirit of San Francisco...I think if the hippie and punk rock movements were to have a lovechild, it would be zeitgeist...and I am utterly infatuated...It is so bohemian and edgy all at the same time...I had a blast people watching...and the stories we were swapping were hillarious...AND...the bloody marys...were off the effing chain! I can't even begin to explain how much I loved everything about that place...The brautwurst, the "lemonade" [Bartender: "Uh, yeeeah, we don't have lemonade here..." Andrea: "But wait, everyone at my table has a hard lemonade!" Bartender: "Well they didn't get that shit from me!" Andrea: "um, okay...I guess I'll just have another Stella..."] We hopped on Bart about 5 blocks from Zeitgeist and made our way to the airport...Okay, so because of me, Luis and I almost miss our plane. I had to pee so bad it was painful...I dont think I have ever had to pee worse than that in my whole entire life...We had to get off the train so I could relieve my ever-expanding bladder...That unplanned pit stop forced us to check into our flight 1 minute before boarding was supposed to begin, which usually means they close the flight and your tickets are not valid. Someone was looking out for us, because they let us through, we ran through security and hopped right on the plane.
It was a most incredible anniversary trip!
Last night was the real 4 year annniversary - we went to Old Spaghetti Factory and walked on the beach collecting shells (which is what we did on our first date)...I had so much fun - and I realized how incredibly lucky I am to be with someone so wonderful....and how utterly happy I am!
Today Erika graduates from high school...I got to work at 7 this am and have sacrificed my lunch break so i can leave at 3:00 to head to Rowland Heights...
Saturday I am working Arroyo Vista Move out and then bouncing to graduations. Luis graduates at 7pm in the Bren, so no doubt we will be doing something after!
Sunday morning I am doing a whirlwind up-and-back trip to Portland to surprise my dad for Father's day...I can sleep when I am an old lady! ;)
I have an hour and a half left of my day...I guess I should "work" a little...