Two Weeks in Review

Well kids, we made it back in one piece. It was a lovely two weeks back with all the people we love and care about. Let me regale you with tales of the trip...

Monday, June 4
We dropped Maddy off at the boarders, then headed south for a day in Sonoma Valley. We arrived about 2pm to a beautiful, sunny 75 degree day, which was a welcome relief after weeks and weeks of 57 and partly cloudy. Our first stop was at the Sebastiani Winery, in the heart of Sonoma. Sebastiani was known to most winemakers as swill, until about 15 years ago, when their wines started tasting pretty amazing. We tasted 4 wines each, and ended up leaving with 3 bottles of our favorites.

Rob at Sebastiani


During our tasting at Sebastiani


Next, we headed up the hill to Ravenswood, whose slogan is "No Wimpy Wines". We were treated to 5 different wines by most likely the oldest man in Sonoma County, who also liked to give generous pours. By the time our tasting was done, we were pretty lit. We left Ravenswood with 4 of our favorites, one of those for our friends Matt and Jason, who we were to see in just a few short days in Nati.

Outside Ravenswood


The view from Ravenswood


Having our chocolates on the Ravenswood patio


After leaving Ravenswood, we traveled over to our bed and breakfast, called The Sonoma Chalet. Such a beautiful, secluded place overlooking the amazing hills of Sonoma. We were pampered by Jack, the sweetest little gay man in the world, who owns and runs the Chalet. We stayed in Sophie's Room, which had it's own private sun porch and beautiful details.

Rob on the sun porch


On the sun porch


After a shower, we headed over to The Glen Ellen Inn, just a few minutes away in Glen Ellen, CA. Rob and I stayed and dined at the Inn during our honeymoon in 2003. It is, to this day, still the best meal we have ever eaten at a restaurant. The service is impeccable, and the menu changes weekly. We dined on the patio and enjoyed a lovely meal.


Tuesday, June 5
I woke the next morning, quite early, and decided to go for a walk. Just down the block from our B&B was a bike path, cutting through the city. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and I loved seeing the sites while getting in my cardio. After a shower, we were treated to a healthy breakfast on the deck by Jack, who we found out was originally from Illinois, and went to the same college as Rob! Quite a coincidence.
We packed up and headed to the city by 10, and were driving over the Golden Gate about an hour later. Our first stop was the Japanese Tea Gardens, which in my opinion, were the most boring things I've ever seen. Then again, I'm not much for tiny trees and bridges over ponds. Next, we headed down to North Beach and did all kinds of touristy things. The point of heading down there was to get some amazing shots, which I got plenty of. We dined at the Wharf for lunch, then headed back to
Ghirardelli Square for some chocolate tasting and purchasing. We enjoyed a cookie sundae with dark chocolate syrup- man, was that thing good. We picked up some gifts for people after I shot some of the chocolate-making before our eyes.

At Ghirardelli


Next, we headed back to the Marina District, where I took some amazing shots of the Palace of Fine Arts. This is a beautiful structure, built for the Panama Pacific Exposition in 1915. With all intentions of tearing it down once the event had finished, the city decided to keep it, and I'm sure they are glad they did.

Palace of Fine Arts, SF

After the Marina, we headed down to the Mission District, and did some shopping at our favorite little store, Therapy, where I picked up some magnets, cards, and another set of mugs we recieved as a gift last Christmas. We dined at this little sushi place across the street for dinner, then headed down South San Francisco and bunked in for the night at our hotel.


Wednesday, June 6
We woke at 4am to prepare ourselves for a 6am flight to Salt Lake City. The highlight of our day was really something. Going through security at 5am, I looked up to see a familiar face. It was a woman, sitting talking to one of the security guards and spraying her many tattoos on her arms. I did a double-take, and realized the woman was actress Janeane Garofalo, 90's film icon of sorts from movies like Reality Bites, The Truth about Cats and Dogs, Romy and Michelle. She is very tiny in person, and has become quite thin these past few years! Anyway, we sit down at our gate, and she comes and sits down there, too. I notice she is sitting next to another familiar face, a man I can't quite place but recognize nonetheless. Yet again, a tiny man in a black ball cap comes and sits with them, a face I recognize but can't place. They all were sitting first class on our flight, with us sitting just a few rows back. As we arrived in Salt Lake and were ready to deplane, I notice the tiny man's black ball cap says "Pixar" on it, and it hit me that this guy is Brad Bird, writer and director for Pixar movies. If you are a fan of Pixar movies (and I am), Brad Bird is the voice of the sea turtle in Finding Nemo, and the voice of Edna Mode in The Incredibles. We were stunned. Turns out, the chubby guy sitting with Ms. Garofolo at the airport was Patton Oswalt, comedy guru and star on King of Queens. Turns out, both Garofolo and Oswalt voiced the new Pixar flick Ratatouille, and were on a comedy tour publicizing the film. Quite a morning, let me tell you. It was a rough day, flying into O'Hare, picking up the car, getting stuck in Chicago traffic for two hours, then finally making it into Nati around 11pm. We were happy to be out of the car and to see Matt and Jason.

Thursday, June 7
Thursday was a busy day yet again, as Rob was having lunch with a professor at CCM, and I was having lunch with my old student Jessica and her mom, Diane. A quick trip to see Nikki at Vintage for a shine treatment, then coffee with my voice teacher Pat before heading back to Matt and J's to get ready for our night out to Mary's. I was reunited with my baby, Chuck, and then we piled into the rental, on our way for the big party.

Me and Chuck


When we arrived, most of the party had already arrived! It was great to see everyone again- Melissa, P Dub, Thurm, Mark, Sarah E... just everyone. I, of course, sang Heartbreaker (would I sing anything else and disappoint my fans?), then sang a rousing rendition of Seasons of Love with the whole gang.

Mark, Michael Shawn, Thurm, Matt, Flerlage, Mel, Daniel, Jason, Chuck after Seasons of Love.


Charlie, always at the ready


Awesome photo of Chuck on stage


My people love me


Doin' the Heartbreaker thang


Mark


Friday, June 8
A bit of a lazy day. Matt and Jason planned a small dinner party for the group, where we dined on spaghetti and meatballs, salad and lots of red wine. Towards the end of the night, we got a little punchy and started looking at pictures of sex changes over the internet. Yah, kinda scary.





The sex change photos


Saturday, June 9
Rob and I packed up, gave lots of hugs to Matt and J for having us, then drove home to Illinois for a week of house-hunting. My sister Tina and 2 1/2 year old nephew Enzo were staying as well, and it was a great evening, all of us together. We hadn't seen Tina or Enzo since September of 2005 at my uncle's funeral. Enzo was just crawling then, and it was great to see him getting so big. He sure loves his Uncle Rob and Aunt Ally.




Sunday, June 10
Lazy day of reading the paper, having breakfast, then some house walk-throughs before heading up to Morrison to visit with the Elflines.

Monday and Tuesday, June 11 and 12
We spent these two days looking at houses, and Tuesday we found the perfect one (the one we got). We filled out the application and waited anxiously to hear back.

Wednesday, June 13
Mom took a vacation day and we had a lovely girls day out. Mom treated us to side-by-side pedi's. We had those two girls in stitches as they did our toes, and we talked Mom into getting an eye-brow wax, which she loved. We headed down to the mall and had lunch, then shopping. That night, I met my blogger friend Tracy at Old Chicago for some chow and good conversation. It was so awesome to finally meet her, and know that when we return home, I have a new friend there!

Me and Tracy


Thursday, June 14
Thursday, Rob and I headed to the Bettendorf pool for some sunshine and swimming. It was in the 90's and sunny the whole week we were home, and we were happy to get out and take advantage! After, we headed to Chili's for lunch and received a phone call from Alan Ford (our new landlord) that he would let us know tomorrow if we got the house or not. After a shower, we had dinner with two of Rob's new colleagues from Augustana at Exotic Thai, then hit some mini-golf, where I totally kicked ass.

Friday, June 15
Friday, we met with Les and Corey for lunch at The Phoenician, this amazing mediterranian restaurant in Davenport, all the while, trying desperately to not spill the beans about Les' surprise graduation party that would be heald the very next day. We treated ourselves at Two Rivers Massage, and celebrated getting the house that night at Bud's Skyline Inn near the airport in Moline.

Saturday, June 16
It was Les' big day, her surprise graduation party at their friend Mike's house in Bettendorf. She was quite shocked but grateful we were all there to congratulate her. We were so happy we were able to attend!

The volleyball game in the pool, Les' party


Les in the party hat


Mike and Beth's new daughter, Isabella


Rob and Sassy, playing catch


Mom and Bert took us out to Governor's Saturday night, where we sat on the patio and had a great time. Rob and I went for a drive, where I snapped this shot of the I-74 bridge and the great Mississippi at dusk.

We ended our trip with one last jaunt to Whitey's Ice Cream, the Quad City favorite.



Sunday, June 17
We had a nice Father's Day breakfast with Mom and Bert, then packed up and drove up to O'Hare. We arrived in San Francisco around 11pm Sunday night, crashed at the La Quinta, and were happy to have our own car back.


Monday, June 18
We left the City around 9:30am for the 5 hour drive back to Eureka. It was a pleasant, sunny day for driving. Knowing this would be the last time we drove on the 101, we stopped at Confusion Hill, a roadside attraction we have seen many times before. Confusion Hill boasts the Gravity House, which is quite a feat of engineering.





Rob in the Gravity House


We arrived in Eureka around 3pm, did some unpacking, and picked up our baby, who was tired beyond all belief. She is still sleeping now, and I think will continue to for a day or so.


After all was said and done, we are glad to be back in our own bed, with Maddy and our own cars. After two weeks of uncontrolled eating and very little exercise I feel a little... bloated. It's nice to be home, in my kitchen, where I know what I'm eating and can control my portion size and how much fruit and vegies I eat. Back at the cardio this morning, which is necessary. We were also able to change our reservations for the moving van and hotels. We are now leaving Eureka July 16, a full 11 days prior to our original date. Just 26 days, and we will be on the road. I better get packing!