Tuesday, April 24, 2012

SPRING BREAK (for Matt at least)!!

Hello! I know it's been almost a quarter century since I last updated this blog, but I wanted to let you know we are alive and kicking!! Matt is the best boyfriend ever. Instead of partying it up in Cancun or gambling away in Vegas, this guy decided to spend his spring break somewhere pretty low key...Sunnyvale! I know I've already told him a million times, but I don't think he realizes how much I appreciate his visit up here. I LOVE YOU MATT. I know it was kind of boring for him, especially since I had to work the entire two weeks he was here. But one of the perks of my job is that I get off at 3:30. He was so nice about it too, he kept saying he knew he had to spend a lot of time working (for Backen and on his scholarships/portfolio). This man is a keeper! Anyways, even though I had to work, we managed to pack in a lot in our two weeks together. 

We made it to some all-you-can-eat buffets (one in San Francisco called Kome with my coworkers, and a sushi buffet called Jazmine with his brother in Reno).



We babysat for one of my coworkers. Seriously, this guy is like a baby whisperer. Or at least a charmer to the boot. Look at him and that baby girl (isn't she the cutest???)! And her brother is a cutie pie too. Surprisingly, we had a blast. Jackson (the boy) is a handful, but in the most fun way possible. Matt and Jackson spent Jackson's last waking half hour running around like maniacs. Jackson probably thinks I'm boring because all I do is read with him. Clearly, there may be some favoritism in the future. 



After work one day, Matt met us in Menlo Park so we could take him to our favorite happy hour spot, the Dutch Goose. Surprisingly I have never had a burger here before, even though everyone I know swoons over them, so it was pretty appropriate that Matt and I both had our first one together. And everyone is right, these burgers are amazing!! Plus they have great sweet potato fries (not pictured). And everything is pretty cheap! Considering how close it is to work, we love their 10 dollar pitchers! We also squeezed in a trip to Yard House with my coworkers, Rica and Maddie. Did you know they have a secret beer menu? Next time you go, make sure you ask for the Berry Crunch beer (yea, it tastes like Captain Crunch with berries).

Dutch Goose!

We also decided to spend some nights in cooking. We made pizza and rice krispies (that looked like Easter egg baskets) and coffee cake for a picnic. I must admit, my own culinary skills continue to surprise me. I used to cook a lot more in college, and I think my love for the kitchen is slowly coming back. And it's stuck around even after Matt left (this week alone, I made No-bake Energy Bites, Smashed Avocado and Chickpea Salad, Rice Krispies (my signature go-to dessert), and even meat loaf for the first time!!! My mom wanted to make sure Matt was well fed, so she packed a bunch of food for him in a cooler for him to drive back down to San Diego. I'm pretty sure she gave him some quick cooking lessons too. 


Making pizza dough!

We took a weekend trip to Reno to see Matt's family. They really are one of the greatest family and are slowly overtaking my best friend's family as my second favorite family (just kidding Amber and the McCormicks). His sister, Abby, is a senior!!!! I know it's a little crazy, especially since I've known her since she was an eighth grade (wow). And it was her prom weekend. I went dress shopping with her and her mom (Abby, you are such a procrastinator) while Matt hung out with his brothers. His mom also threw a small birthday party for Matt, his dad, his brother and his grandpa. And by small, I mean spectacular with decorations, order-up grilled cheeses, and ice cream sundaes. This woman knows how to throw a good party. O and did I mention it snowed? No joke. We drove back in a snow storm. As you can guess, I had a slight panic attack. Who has ever heard of snow in April, right? 

Matt...driving.


Nice find in Matt's closet


We also managed to find some time to squeeze in a date night and an impromptu wine tasting trip. We had a date at Pasta Pomodoro on a Wednesday night. Did you know they have half off wine Wednesdays? Date night plus yummy wine. Matt even let me order white wine since I'm not much of a red wine person. We also had a lunch date on Good Friday, because I'm lucky enough to work in finance, which considers Good Friday a good day to take off (another perk of my job). We grabbed lunch at BJs to watch some of the opening day baseball games, and then decided to drive up to Santa Cruz for some last-minute wine tasting. We stopped at two wineries we had never been to, Villa Del Monte and the Burrell School. Of course, we mostly tasted red wine, but I think my palette is slowly (but surely) growing to like red wine (a little bit at least). And we even made it back in time to catch the first pitch of the Giants' Opening Day at Bowlmor (that bowling alley I've managed to make my favorite bar). I thought it was pretty special that we were able to share the Giants first game together :)






Our friends, Courtney and Tyler, also hosted a Beer Olympics tournament. Yes, it is kind of like the Olympics with lots of beer consumption. Overall, this was one of the most fun days of the entire break. We love Tyler and Courtney...mostly because they like to have fun as much as we do! In case you can't  tell, the four of us were so excited we made t-shirts. Did I mention that there were other people there? Because there were, but we were the only one with team shirts! Of course, our team won!




Massive pizza to end the night
We also made a trip to the church picnic for Easter Sunday. Matt specifically stayed later on his last day to go to the picnic with me. We were lucky enough to catch a beautiful day in San Francisco at the park. He was supposed to leave around 1, but he got sucked into watching the Giants game, so I got to hang out with him for a few more hours.


And we drafted for our fantasy baseball team!!!! He stole Brian Wilson from me (which is realistically a blessing in disguise for me....sorry honey!!!). Thanks for spending your break with me Matt. I can't wait to see you soon...for our four-year anniversary (a little scary right?)!!!!

At least our league name isn't Last Place Margaret again.