Fabulous weekend.

We missed our flight Thursday because we didn't hear our alarm... oops! Of course it was also the one day the kids decided to sleep in as well. No biggie. We got on the next flight, which left an hour later.
We arrived at the house in Kensington about 11 a.m. - just as beautiful as we remembered it. Jan & John left us the keys to their car, and we decided to drive into Berkeley.
Saw Charlie & the Chocolate Factory at the creepiest theatre EVER. Seriously it was straight out of a creepy film. Everyone who worked there was totally Goth. The decor was all old movie posters - in French - The seats were old and small... everything was just very creepy. And that just was the perfect place to see this movie, which I thoroughly enjoyed... so much so, I *must* find myself a pair of those fabulous glasses.
We found the perfect place to have dinner - Rivoli, a small Italian restaurant that we went to ten years ago on our honeymoon. Dinner was lovely and so was the wine - a Pinot Noir labeled "bio-dynamic" from Robert Sinskey Vineyards. The waitress explained that "bio-dynamic" meant that the wine was certified organic (okay, that's cool), and the growers take special care to also be sure the grapes are planted taking into consideration the position of the sun and moon, as well as being sure the fields have other things planted on them. All of it is supposed to somehow contribute to a healthier earth. Um, okay. Alls I know is that it was goooooood wine ;)
Friday we slept in till 10:30. YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT!!!!!!!!! TEN THIRTY!!! We haven't done that since our children have been born. What a glorious sleep it was. After taking our time getting ready adn eating a late breakfast/lunch, we decided to drive up to Napa (45 minutes north) and check out the wineries.
Napa was beautiful - the weather was VERY warm and the landscape was gorgeous. We stopped at the visitor's center and got a map of the wineries. Dad told us to pick a good place to have dinner and he would treat (AWESOME!) as our anniversary gift from him. He recommended a few different places, and after making the calls, we got reservations at Chandon for 6 p.m. Oh and of course there was a dress code - business casual. Neither of us were wearing "business casual." We walked over to Mervyn's and each found some great clothes - Rick found a nice embroidered shirt and khakis on the clearance rack, and I found a cute dress with matching cardigan. My dress/cardigan set ended up ringing up at EIGHT DOLLARS! Rick's shirt and pants were 18 altogether - for a total of $26 for two complete outfits. Nice!
By now it was 3:30, so we got a map of the wineries and headed down the street. Lo and behold - up the way we found Robert Sinskey vineyards! We stopped in for a tasting. It was $20 each, or free with a purchase of two bottles of wine each. So we thought we'd try it out. All the wines were wonderful, and we especially loved the Cabernet Franc (mmmmm). We also loved the Chardonnay, too... it was wonderful. It had a lovely, full-bodied flavor without the trademark "buttery" taste that most Chardonnays seem to have (and what I think makes them taste heavy). With each tasting (and we tried eight different kinds) we had a different little appetizer accompaniment, which was wonderful - and it made us understand so much more why certain wines are paired with certain foods.
After leaving Robert Sinskey with four bottles of wine, we went to Robert Mondavi to try and take a tour - but we just missed the last one when we got there. We did a little exploring of our own and checked out the different areas of the winery (though we couldn't go in and see how the wine is actually made, which is what I wanted to do).
By this time it was just after 5 p.m., so we went down to Chandon. The grounds were BEAUTIFUL there. We walked around, exploring the different areas of the place, and we found the restaurant and looked at the menu. There were two options - the Summer Tasting Menu, which was a fixed price for seven courses plus wines to acocmpany each, or the a'la carte menu, which we realized would add up to nearly the price of the Tasting Menu once we added some wine. We opted for the tasting menu, and I am so glad we did. Again - understanding how and why different wines (and in this case, sparkling wines too) combined with different flavors and textures was so amazing. This was really "outside the box" for Rick, who normally eats a pretty traditional menu... and this stuff was anything but traditional. The names of the different courses gave us no clue as to what to expect. We tried everything from raw fish to cold soup to stinky (GROSS!!) cheese, to amazingly wonderfully prepared beef to scrumptious fish to fabulous desserts. And the only thing that was completely unpalatable for us was the cheese. It's called Red Hawk... it looked just like Brie, but it smelled just like the leftover milk at the bottom of the kids sippy cup after it's been left in the car for several days. We tried, bt we just couldn't do it. But the wine was wonderful. Three different sparkling wines, a chardonnay, a pinot (mmmm that pinot was awesome!!), and another sparkling wine with dessert. Awesome!
After dinner, we walked around a bit more, did the deed among some grapevines somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, and then looked for a Starbuck's to have a coffee. We found one that had just closed, so we went next door to Cold Stone Creamery and had chocolate ice cream to top off the night.
After another 45 minute drive, we were back in Kensington and ready for a long night's sleep again.
Saturday we slept in... again! Woohoo!! We spent the majority of the day reading and relaxing and just doing a whole lot of nothing. We went into Berkeley in the afternoon and got a shake and onion rings at a 50s diner and then went to see the movie Crash. Excellent movie. VERY emotionally charged. I was unprepared for a specific scene in the movie - so much so that I ended up completely hysterical in the theatre - crying VERY LOUDLY like an idiot and then spending the next 15 minutes hyperventilating. If you would like to be spared the emotionality of that scene, I am more than willing to prepare you for it with a single sentence. Email me and I will share it with you. It won't ruin the movie for you, I promise. It will just make that moment a little easier to deal with.
We went out to dinner at a place called Jupiter that night - very cool. Very Berkeley. Live music, eating outdoors, funky dressed people. Just fun.
On our way home we stopped at a store and got Jan & John a huge bouquet of flowers, a thank you card, and a bottle of wine, then we filled up the car's tank with gas. That night we put the flowers in a vase on the table, did all the dishes and cleaned up after ourselves, and made the house look just a little better than when we arrived.
About 9:30 we started hearing what we thought was thunder outside - but there was no lightning. We could not figure out for the life of us where the sound was coming from - the skies were all creepy and foggy, and the booms continued. They sounded like a cannon being fired off in the distance... but it was louder than we expected, because it soulded like it was coming from way out in the Bay. It totally reminded us of the Langoliers. Creeeeeeeeeeeeepy. We turned on the TV and there was nothing on the weather channel or the news reports. But we certainly weren't imagining it. And after about 20 minutes, the sounds were done. Just as oddly as they started... After awhile we concluded there must have been a fireworks show after a baseball game that night. Never mind that the game that day was an afternoon game, and never mind that we saw no fireworks. That's just what we decided.
We woke up Sunday about 8 a.m. and called a cab to take us to the BART station so we could go downtown. By the time the cab arrived and we got to the station, got on a train, and at our destination, it was after 10:30 a.m. We dropped off our bags at the Ramada hotel next to the Orpheum Theatre and set off looking for a place to eat.
Rick wanted pancakes.
I didn't care. I just knew that if we wanted breakfast, we needed to have it SOON, before they stopped serving it. We walked through town looking for a good place- but everywhere was either crowded or a cafe. And no pancakes anywhere. I was getting irritated. Rick was getting frustrated. Then we saw it. Lori's Diner. Two spots at the counter, calling our name. And breakfast served till noon.
Rick had pancakes. I had French toast. We drank coffee. We relaxed. That place was HOPPING. We left at about noon and took a cab to Ghirardelli. THE SCARIEST CAB RIDE EVER. I was so sure the brakes were going to go out on that cab as we were flying up and down the hills, it was crazy.
Once we arrived at Ghirardelli, we strolled around the shops, got some shirts for the kids, got some chocolate (60% dark chocolate - not 70%, Liane, but still very VERY good), and just enjoyed the afternoon. We visited the shops at The Cannery and headed toward Pier 39 but we never got there - it was 1:30 and our show was at 2:00. We found a cab and hopped in. Only this time the cab driver took the long, slow way. I swear he hit every single red light possible. The cab fare was DOUBLE what it was last time. And we barely made it to the theatre in time.
The theatre. The play.
WICKED.
It was SUBLIME.
As soon as it was over I wanted to see the whole thing over again. I needed the CD (Rick got it for me!!!) and a pin for my stocking. I wanted a shirt, but we had already spent $35 on a CD and a pin, so I had to hold back on the $35 shirts. I wanted to relish and remember every single moment. Like my favorite line that Fiyero spoke: "Excuse me, there's no pretense here. I happen to be genuinely self-absorbed and deeply shallow." I think that needs to be my signature online ;).
After the play, we got our bags and walked around the city looking for a good place to eat. Unfortunately, we didn't find one that fit our budget or time, until we saw "Lucky O'Doul's Pub and Piano Bar"... perfect! Total comfort food to fill us up till tomorrow and under $10 apiece. After a filling meal, we boarded BART and made our way to the airport.
We got to the airport in plenty of time - and were sitting at our gate with two hours to spare. So I read Harry Potter aloud to Rick to pass the time. He loves it when I read in all my accents, and I enjoyed getting a chance to read some of it again. By the time we were ready to board, we had just finished chapter 21. (no I didn't read that much! We just got through a couple of chapters that night).
Our flight took FOREVER to leave the gate (it was reeeeeeeally foggy), but we finally took off and arrived in Vegas at 12:01 a.m. Jim and Val picked us up and took us to get the kids, who were asleep at Mom & Dad's house.
I think my head hit the pillow just before 2 a.m... and now it's back to reality. :)