Surf's Up!

Okay, not for us...we were mere spectators as Keely and Jess surfed in Pacifica on Saturday. In the meantime, Pregnant Mama Sarah, Jaime, Dave, Eli (2-year-old son of Sarah & Keely) chilled on the beach and entertained ourselves. Keely and Sarah were some of our first friends when we lived in San Diego and actually were our neighbors (our front apartment doors opened to each other), so we got to know each other really well. They moved from San Diego to the Bay Area in 2004, being replaced by their close childhood friend, Jaime, who we have become ridiculously attached to over the last 6 years. We have all remained really great friends and, while we aren't 5-feet-apart-I-can-hear-your-conversation-from-my-kitchen neighbors anymore, we are thrilled that we are all together in the Bay area where we can get together at the drop of a hat. Keely was the first person to teach Dave and me how to surf! (I have to say "first person to teach" because, unfortunately, it is going to take many more lessons before either of us are hanging 10).

Here is Keely on one of his waves:


Dave is SO GREAT with kids, and with Eli especially. He (Dave) just loves to be around him, and Eli eats him up. It's such a fantastic thing for me to see...I love every minute of it. Here are a few pics of Eli and crew....


Eli and me having a chat about world issues


"Uncle Dave" having a great time with Eli


Eli laughing so hard his eye is closed


Jaime and Jess, being adorable


Dave hugging me and then forcing me into a back bend (which means I inevitably landed on my a$$)


Sarah & Eli...motherly love...


Eli kissing his baby sister, growing in Mama Sarah's Belly!


The "Other Woman"...Jess' new girlfriend...the green surfboard he bought on Saturday. Jaime, do you feel threatened?

After the day at the beach, we had lunch together, relaxed for a bit, then Jaime and Jess came over for cocktails and we headed to dinner together at Umami (amazing, hip sushi restaurant in our 'hood). Jess' bday is on Tuesday (Happy Birthday, Jess!!!) and it was a weekend of celebrating!

A few more photos from the day can be found here.

Ciao, Italy!

With sadness, we left Italy on Sunday. We had SUCH a phenomenal trip and really loved every moment of it. I wanted to capture some of the highlights now that we have full-fledged internet access and PHOTOS! I actually also added photos to the previous posts (below this one) to go along with the stories....

1) The Rental House (aka "Casa Bella Vista"): We enjoyed this house from top to bottom. It had all of the amenities (including a bathroom that Dave and I shared where you could literally shower, brush your teeth in the sink and uhhhh, do #2...or, for that matter, use the bidet, all at the same time since there wasn't a divider amongst any of the devices). Fortunately, the fresh Italian air dries it within an hour or so and it's back to normal. We made very good use of the large kitchen, the great living room and porch and were more than happy to pass out on the comfy beds after drinking all day! Overall, the place was a dream with a beautiful garden and view overlooking Lago Trasimeno.


View from Porch of Lago Trasimeno

2) Eating at "Home": We (again, the 'royal we'...meaning Dave and Valerie) made dinner three nights of our trip and each meal was delicious. Simple, fantastic food with pasta, sausage, and loads of cheese (oh...and wine...did I mention wine?).


Dinner at Home


Gourmet?


Yummy Pasta

3) Lounging by the Pool: We spent all of Sunday, Monday and Friday at the pool. It was glorious relaxation, where we had a packed agenda of reading, napping, swimming and cocktails. Oh, and there was that horrid incident of me attempting to finally learn how to do "The Worm" (it's been on my New Years' Resolutions for 6 years now)...and failing...miserably. Thank god there is no video.


Lounging by the Pool


Pathetic Attempts at The Worm


Attempting to do a Flip...I got about 6" of Air

4) Learning How to Make Pasta! Cristina was SO sweet to spend the time and energy to teach us how to make Tagliatelle. We were absolutely grateful for her patience and laughter with (at?) us!


The Art of Pasta...


Giving "Air" to the Tagliatelle


Fresh Pasta...

5) Meeting Cristina, Vittorio and Franca: Meeting this lovely family was definitely one of the major highlights of the trip. They are fascinating, generous, kind, funny people and we had such a fantastic time with them! We hope to visit them at their other home...in KENYA(!) some day soon....


Dinner with Cristina, Vittorio and Franca


Dinner Set Up at Cristina & Vittorio's House


Beautiful (and overflowing) Bar Set Up!

6) Eating More Cheese than any Human Should: I went above and beyond the call of duty in consuming Pecorino (we learned that "pecora" means "sheep" and therefore "pecorino" cheese means sheep cheese...see - it was educational...).


Formaggio Till the Cows...or Sheep...Come Home


The Sheep Actually "coming home"...we forgot to close the gate


Fear of Running Out...


Vino, Anyone?

7) Being Third and Fourth Wheel on Valerie and Chris' Honeymoon: V&C spent the first two weeks on their own in London and Paris, then met up with us. We are so happy to be able to celebrate the first month of their lives as "Mr. & Mrs." with them!

Mr. and Mrs. Augenstein


Time with Valerie...


Dave Showin' Love to Chris' Mustache (the 'stache lasted for 5 minutes)


The Crew....

8) Spending Time with the Love of my Life: I loved every moment of spending the week with Dave (well, except for the "Car Driving Incident of 2008" as it will now be known...see previous post). My favorite day with him was our last...the two of us went to Rome on our own (C&V flew to NYC for Sat/Sun). Since we have been fortunate enough to have visited there several times before, we opted to spend the day lounging at various cafes, walking through the shops and eating dinner at our (so far) favorite restaurant in Rome...Maccheroni. Our friend Keri (who lived in Rome for a year a couple of years ago) took us there before, then we went one other time on our own and this is our third trip to this restaurant. The food it amazing and the experience is wonderful. I can still taste our fettucine carbonara and pasta with truffles...hmmm.....


Dave and me at Castiglione del Lago


Dave Actin' a Fool


Dave and me in Orvieto


Unforgettable Pasta with Truffles at Maccheroni


We hung out for an hour outside the Pantheon...created in 125 A.D., people watching, at about 10pm

Link to photos from our night in Rome...

We had a fantastic week (needless to say!)! In case you need any MORE photos - you can see an online gallery here.

"A Gelato a Day...

...Keeps The Doctor Away"?

Well, it at least helps me get to my goal weight of 10lbs this week.


Doctor's Orders...

Italy continues to impress and charm us with every turn. We figured out the "reverse" on the manual transmission, we have a few more Italian words under our belt, and I am pretty sure we have the Italian Art of Relaxation down pat.

Yesterday, we drove to Orvieto, our favorite Tuscan/Umbrian town to date. Today, we visted Castiglione del Lago (just a few miles from our villa) and enjoyed some pizza and, yes, gelato(!!!) before heading home and vegging out by the pool.


Orvieto...Quintessential Italy


View from Orvieto


Valerie vs. Duomo...who will win?

On our drive back, Dave was riding shotgun and was responsible for simply telling me what exit to take (we were on 2 highways the entire time...very simple). However, in true Italian style (or rather true Dave style), the three of them were "Drinking and Riding" and Dave was SO busy concentrating on how to open a bottle of wine that we missed our exit...by 20 MINUTES! Needless to say, I was not a happy-sober-driver and Dave had a vodka drink ready for me the minute we walked in the door to our rental house.


Drinking and Driving...Italian Style


Married Bliss

That afternoon, we headed to Vittorio and Cristina's house (next to our rental...the homeowners) and Cristina taught us how to make PASTA!!! We made tagliatelle and it (looks) awesome!


Beginnings of Tagliatelle


Cristina Working Magic


Tagliatele for DAYS!

We are enjoying cocktails on our amazing balcony now, and heading back to their house at 8:00pm to EAT the pasta with them! Cristina even made a raghu to go with the pasta (and I don't mean the canned stuff!) that looks delicious! Pictures to follow, but I am onthe iPhone and pictures will have to wait!

We are enjoying our final day at the villa tomorrow with intense plans to sit by the pool (with a short workout in the morning; thank you, Valerie!) and a goal of finishing the 18 bottles of vino we have "stored up". That, of course, does not include the 18 that we have already drank (and beer, and vodka...)...thank goodness for photos to remember the trip! Ha ha...just kidding; as Designated Driver, it has been a week of at least daytime sobriety for me!

Ciao from Italy....is 30 too early to retire???

"Niente Con Gli Occhi"

That phrase, found as one of the top phrases Rick Steves suggests one may need in Italy, means, "Nothing with eyeballs." Seriously? That is what he considered "critical knowledge" when ordering in Italy? We noticed pigeon on our dinner menu and I closely examined a goat head in the supermarket the other day, but have not come across any dire situations to save me from eyeballs.

Nevertheless, we are having a fantastic time in Umbria! The rental house is lovely, perfect for our use with a modest kitchen, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and even a pool! We made dinner at home the first two nights (okay...I didn't "make" anything, but did a helluva job putting things in the dishwasher as part of the clean-up crew).


Side View of Rental House


Pool and Garden


View of Lago Trasimeno from House

The homeowners (Cristina and Vittorio) joined us for dinner at one of their favorite spots on Monday night which was delicious! Tuesday, we drove to Siena for the day, followed by the fancy outlet mall (it only had the top brands...Gucci, Pucci, YSL, Ferrigamo, etc....).


Group Dinner

We rented a car (a hatchback beauty called a Twingo) and I am using those great stick-shift skillzzzz from the Nissan Lindsay and I shared in high school. Dave, Chris and Valerie had to PUSH the car backwards out of the driveway because I couldn't figure out reverse!!!


Issues with Reverse

Today, we are heading to Orvieto, said to be the wine capital of Umbria. Updates to follow! I will leave you with one other phrase Rick Steves found to be imperative to include in the brief phrasebook of Italian we have been referencing: "Passiamo una notte di fuoco!"

"Let's have a wild and crazy night!"

10 Lbs in 10 Days...

GAINING 10 lbs, that is! This is my quest as we embark to Italy today! Between the vino, cheese, prosciutto, olive oil and gelato, I have a feeling I will be able to reach my goal...perhaps even before the 10-day deadline is up!

The only force that my get in the way of the goal is...VALERIE! She forced me to bring my running shoes (on VACATION! That is just plain heresy.) and my fear is that she'll also make me actually use them...a lot.

So keep me in your thoughts and cheer me on that Good may overcome Evil in The Battle of the (Italian) Bulge!!

More updates to follow...we pulled an all-nighter last night (I swear, I could never manage to do that in college) and are attempting to board our first flight to Chicago now! The journey begins...pass me a full-fat Latte, please!

Biking Just Became Hella Cool...

I came across this website today called www.sanfrangasprices.com that shows not only SF gas prices (showing users where to go within the city to get the lowest prices), but it also has a USA map to show what gas prices look like across the country. It's pretty crazy (and depressing).


Map as of 24-June-2008

Just two weeks ago, I recalculated my commute to work (I commute 50 miles each way so 100 miles a day to Cupertino, 3 times a week) and it's now up to $25 each day I commute...or $75 each week...or $300 each month...or $3600 per year...in GAS. I can think of a LOT more appealings things I'd like to spend money on rather than GAS (like, say...another trip to Italy?). I started commuting to work with a few coworkers who live in my 'hood and that should help cut down the cost by 1/3, and even just the mental relaxation of knowing I'm not stabbing at the heart of the environment at least 1 day a week helps me sleep at night.

So get out your bikes, people...or at least your walking shoes in our case (we've had an unfortunate run with bike history...we had 1 stolen in Boston and 3 in San Diego...we've sort of given up until we have a garage-type-structure)...time to start saving $$!

On a side note, I watched an interesting video on cars that run on vegetable oil (shout-out to our friend Keely who converted a Mercedes Benz Diesel into a Veggie-Run Dream Machine). Check it out when you get a chance...forty cents to the gallon!


PS: Gas price I paid on the way to work today: $4.58/gallon.

Oh, and yes...Italy updates to follow!