We had a great and beautiful weekend. On Friday, we tried a new Cuban restaurant in Alameda called Havana. It was very tasty and our favorite dishes were the paella, the mango gazpacho, (sorry Jamie!) and skirt steak. It was nice to catch up with the Banerjees who had just returned from a 2 week vacation in Hawaii.
On Saturday, we visited the Tachikis who just had baby boy Tyler. Corinne was a real trooper who went through 50 hours of labor. I was amazed by how alert he was. I guess it was probably one of his first parties since the Banerjees and Show were also there besides us. We also had some friends from Santa Cruz (Dana & Chris) over for dinner. Somehow these things always get bigger and we ended up with 10 people over. Since they go surfing with Edwin, we decided to invite Tom and Debbie and Marty and Joanna. And since they also know Show and the Banerjees, it became a dinner party. Edwin cooked up a storm with 3 different pasta dishes and when it was over, we were cleaning for days. No joke- we have never used so many pots, pans, dishes, silverware, and utensils in one day. Here are some pics.
We also took a leisurely bike ride in Alameda. It was a great day to take a ride. Here is a map of the pedestrian bridge we crossed into Bay Farm.
Congratulations to Ellen and Mustafa who just bought a house in DC. Congrats also to Jeannette and Jon who also just bought a house in the Bay Area. You hear about how housing sales are slumping, but people still need to buy houses. Hopefully, this means that the Banerjees and Schneiders will soon be homeowners too.
Now that we have finished the kitchen remodel. A lot of people keep asking us, "So what's next?" I would like to know "Is it ever done?" Haven't we done enough? I guess I do keep a mental list of stuff I want to do to the house, but do all homeowners do that? I can completely understand why people would call a house the money pit. There's no limit to the amount of money you could spend on a house. When we were in the apartment, I remember wishing that we could do stuff, but now I think that there's so much stuff to do!
Weekends are too short. You have the best of intentions to get all these things done and it's tough when you can only get a few of the things on your list. In case you didn't realize this about me, I'm a list person. Most of the time, I write down all the things I want to do. Some people might think that I write them down because I might forget them if I don't write it down. That's part of the reason, but the real reason is that my mind will be constantly thinking about it if I don't. Most guys have wives that nag them to do stuff. I think that most wives must have an internal nagging mechanism in their brains. Husbands, if you only knew... we only nag you about half the time that we nag ourselves.
So this weekend, we really wanted to unpack the remaining boxes that we pulled out of the garage last week. I would say that we are about half way done thanks to Edwin. I just couldn't do it this weekend. I feel like I've been the one to go through most of the boxes- it's probably not true, but that's how I felt. Most of the boxes are out of the kitchen and dining room now, but there are still 5 or 6 in the guest room. Given that we want to paint our bedroom next, we'll need to get those boxes out so that we can live there while we paint. The one thing that I wish that we could find that we still have not found are the placemats. We didn't use them that much in the apartment, but it would be nice to use them now that we have a dining room.
I did get to hang out with Michelle and Mike on Saturday for dinner. Though Mike had to go down 5 flights of stairs in his crutches to get to the car, he was a real trooper. Mike just had knee surgery and is recovering. The reason he had to go down the stairs is that the electricity went out on their entire block because of all the wind. We also had the Schneiders over for a BBQ. Here are some pictures:
Having people really forces us to clean the house, especially when we know babies are coming over. Gearing up for the week, it's nice to have the house without boxes to trip over. I wonder if that's how they invented the box step- it was just a couple trying to avoid bumping into the boxes in their home as they unpacked and without stepping on each other's toes.
Last Friday, I had a girls night clothing exchange with some friends. It's always a good time and I was glad to be able to get rid of some more stuff. My goal at these things is to always go home with less than what I brought and I think that I achieved that! Even in Lei's way pregnant state, she's still able to organize and plan. It's always fun to meet new people too. Edwin, on the other hand, got some much needed alone time on the couch.
On Saturday, we had brunch with the Banerjees before they left for their vacation to Hawaii. It made me think that we need to plan a vacation. We've been talking about trying to go to Italy in August. We were invited to a wedding there. We love Italy. With all the craziness happening in the airline industry and the poor exchange rate, it is really making me think that it might not be a good idea. Not to mention that most of Europe, including many Italians, will also be on vacation in August. Edwin is going to Nicaragua in July for a bachelor party/surfing trip. I'll be going to NYC at the same time.
We're also planning on going to DC at the end of July for Ellen and Mustafa's wedding. That's a lot of travel. I've been looking for tickets online and I can't seem to find anything for under $400. Are the prices high because of gas prices, speculation that there will be increased demand due to competitive airlines going bankrupt, or just plain greed?
We also hung out with the Schneiders this weekend. We had a great dinner at a new Mongolian restaurant in San Mateo called Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot. It had this really tasty broth. Most hot pot places give you either chicken broth or just water. This one had a lot of spices like burdock root, lotus seeds, and some other stuff I don't know. We'll definitely be going back.
On Sunday, we took everything out of the garage to clean it and to bring in the rest of the boxes that have not been unpacked since we moved in. I was working almost continuously from 11AM-2AM and I'm still nowhere near done. Hopefully, we'll be able to hang the old kitchen cabinets in the garage this weekend. We're still trying to unpack, sort, and organize everything. We want to have a garage sale next month so that we can get rid of more stuff. It's really funny to me how everyone always wants to join a garage sale, but no one really wants to plan for it. Maybe we should invite more people over this weekend so that we'll motivate to clean.
So the Olympic torch was in SF this week. It was supposed to run down the Embarcadero according to this map. However, because there were so many protesters against China, they re-routed the path at the last minute along Van Ness. It was kind of absurd. I heard that someone in Paris grabbed the torch from the runner. I just don't feel like people should use the Olympics as this platform. Countries have been doing it for a long time, but I just feel like it's supposed to be about sportsmanship and the athletes. This is the time that we are supposed to lay down the arms and forget about the things that countries disagree on.
Here's a hilarious newclip from CBS about how some of these protesters for "Free Tibet" don't even know where Tibet is:
Anyway, here are some pictures I took with my coworker Renee. Note the police squad ready for a battle. I'm surprised they didn't have shields. People in SF love to protest. Free Tibet. Free Burma. Free Turkistan. What would people here do without the protests?
This past weekend, Jeannette came to visit and look for houses. We were so excited to help her look for a house. They'll be moving here in May and their baby boy will be due in June. I can't imagine being able to find a house in a weekend. I guess it's not that uncommon. Laura and Alex did it last year too. I think that maybe if we were looking a house in another city we would be able to do it too, but it does seem quite stressful.
She arrived on Friday night and we picked her up from the airport and had dinner in San Mateo. She told us that she had already looked at some houses online and had a favorite. On Saturday, I had a baby shower to attend, but saw the first house with her in SF. This is the second weekend in a row that I attended a baby shower and with Jeannette being pregnant, I feel like I've been surrounded by pregnant people the past month. I really wanted to buy Corinne the hooter hider off her registry just so that I could say that I bought one. I guess it's used for breast feeding, but I just thought the name was so funny. I was telling another guy friend about it and he said that he wanted to buy a "hooter finder" instead of a hooter hider. Apparently, it is made by "bebe au lait." It sounds French. I've seen other women just use a blanket.
After the baby shower, I went home and cleaned the house a bit. We're still not done unpacking, but the house is finally at a stage where we aren't tripping over boxes and covered in dust. We still haven't organized everything either and our bedroom still needs to be painted, but the rest of the house is in decent shape. After we cleaned a little, we met up with Jeannette and her friend and had dinner in Oakland.
Today, we went to the Alameda antique fair again. They only have them once a month and this is the third time we have gone. We still haven't bought anything yet, but I guess it's only a matter of time. The thing about these things is that they are huge. We still have not been able to go through the whole thing.
After the fair, we went house hunting again with Jeannette and her realtor. Everyone knows how crazy the SF housing market is. It's a lot of money, but even a lot of money doesn't buy you everything you want. We saw 6 houses with her today and we all agreed on which one was the best (according to what they needed) and luckily it wasn't the most expensive. They're making an offer, but we don't think that they will be the only ones.
Seeing these houses, it also reminded me how SF is not the most kid-friendly place on earth. There were several houses that we saw that had beautifully landscaped backyards for entertaining, but no grass for kids to play in. More than that, it would be dangerous for kids because of all the rocks, cement, or steep hills. Though I miss the ability to walk to great restaurants, that's one thing I don't really miss about SF. We have a small backyard, but it's a backyard that could be kid-friendly. I say "could be" because we need to fix a few things like the overhang next to the garage and fix the gate a little, but it has the potential. We now live in suburbia, but we love it.
We're also just so thrilled to have more family around. We definitely enjoy having my uncle and cousin here. Since we're not able to convince Laura and Alex to join us in the insanity and move into a much smaller house for a lot more money, we're glad that we will have Jeannette and Jon around. Matilde was telling me how it was just so much easier to have family around with kids- especially ones with kids. Everyone cross your fingers and pray that they get the house that they want. Even if it doesn't work out with this house, I just know that they will find something that suits them. Everything happens for a reason. It would just be more convenient for them if this house worked out.
I was exhausted after looking at houses this afternoon. By the end, I could not remember what we had looked at and had to take a nap. The only thing that I do remember is that many of the houses we saw had the same stove that we have. I really did not realize how popular our stove is. After running some errands, we met up with the Banerjees for some Zachary's pizza and went home to relax. One week before taxes are due. Guess I need to get around and send those in... :)
So we've had a few surprises lately. No, not that kind. Still not pregnant. I'm not that unoriginal that I would announce a pregancy 2 years in a row on April Fools Day. Though wouldn't that have been cool if it were true? As I was saying, we've had quite a few surprises lately. Some good and some not so good.
We got a surprise visit from Laura, Alex, Hannah, Timothy, Grace, and CiCi last night. They were flying back from Taiwan and there was a delay which caused them to have to spend the night in SF. It was great to see them all even if it was only for a few hours. That was the good surprise. The bad surprise I got yesterday was that I got a parking ticket. I drove in to work because I thought that I was going to pick them up at the airport around noon and I parked it at a meter. It cost $.25 for 6 minutes or $2.50 per hour. The car was there for about 6 hours. I didn't end up picking them up from the airport and I got a $40 ticket because I ran out of change. I know I spent at least $7 feeding the meter. I also got another nasty surprise when I filled up my gas tank. With gas selling at $3.90 per gallon, it was the first time that my fill-up topped $50. Ouch. I remember in college filling up my Escort for $10. It wasn't that long ago! I even remember when gas was under $1 per gallon. The good surprise still outweighs the bad ones.
Last weekend was nice and relaxing. On Friday, I stayed in to unpack the more kitchen stuff while Edwin had a guys night out. On Saturday, I went to Corinne's baby shower which had a beautiful brunch while Edwin cleaned the house. We also had a Pablo and Monica over for dinner. On Sunday, I had dim sum with Show, Greg, Carey, Matilde, and Sujay. Show then helped me to make some cookies. We made chocolate chip cookies and rochers. It made me so happy that I am no longer burning things in the oven. I don't know what was wrong with the old stove, but I burned a lot of food using it. I knew it wasn't me!
Then, we got to catch up with old Cleveland acquaintances. Michelle and Mike had us over at their new apartment- which is HUGE! They invited us to dinner because Michelle discovered that Byron from CCCC (the church that I grew up in Cleveland) is now going to her church. We got to meet his wife Liza and found out that they moved out to the Bay Area in September. It made me feel so old because when I left Cleveland for college, I think that he was still in junior high. He's now a lawyer. I was closer to his sister Abby who I found out is also moving out to the Bay Area in a few months. See- more surprises.
According to my work personality, I don't really like surprises. I'm in Strategy and Analytics which means that I like process and structure. I don't like changes and things that I don't anticipate. In my personal life, I think I like them a little more. Another happy surprise is this weekend. Jeannette is coming out to SF to look for a house. Can't wait to hang out with her again. I'm also going to another baby shower this weekend. (I feel like there are lot of babies lately.) I got another email this morning announcing Ryan and Limanna's new baby. This is after I spent over $100 last weekend at BabiesR Us. What???
We also had some friends from Santa Cruz (Dana & Chris) over for dinner. Somehow these things always get bigger and we ended up with 10 people over. Since they go surfing with Edwin, we decided to invite Tom and Debbie and Marty and Joanna. And since they also know Show and the Banerjees, it became a dinner party. Edwin cooked up a storm with 3 different pasta dishes and when it was over, we were cleaning for days. No joke- we have never used so many pots, pans, dishes, silverware, and utensils in one day. Here are some pics.
