See you in five days, honey.

Food Truck Dates

So this summer, God blessed us with two wonderful awesome new friends, Jaleen and Russell Davidson. They are our married friends (we call them that because we really don't have that many married friends) who recently moved from SLO to San Francisco. And we think they are incredible!! I swear Matt and Russell are like the same person. They like to drink (and brew beer), they are both architects (well almost), and they both love to eat. Nothing brings friends together like food and beer. Jaleen and I were talking about how much I love food trucks one day, and I decided that we needed to experience Off the Grid, a food truck meet that travels throughout the city. We chose to go to the one in Haight Ashbury on Thursday nights (I know, whoever decided to wander the Haight at night is not the smartest cookie). Anyways, it was SPECTACULAR. Nothing brings people together like waiting in lines for food from trucks, scrambling to get four chairs together, and eating community food. Jaleen and I waited in line at supposedly the best food truck in SF called Señor Sisig. We got a burrito, because that's what everyone told us to get and it really was pretty amazing. The boys waited in line for "sexy fries" which turned out to be fries covered in indian curry, sounds interesting (and a little scary), but it was the BOMB. We even got these garlic noodles from this place that is supposed to be the best (and they were okay...probably cus they came from a truck). Plus then we got some cupcakes. I swear, this place is like a foodie's heaven. There is literally a little bit of everything. I heard that there was a bacon truck, but it wasn't there that week (did I mention that the trucks alternate? Different trucks come every week). I can't believe we waited until the very last week we lived in SF to go. Regardless I think it was a great way for us to end our summer....food, fun, laughs and good friends :)

There is a little bit of a lack of pictures (since we only had our phones and my iPhone doesn't have a flash), but Matt has a video of us talking about our favorite foods. Hopefully he will put it up.

"Hi I'm Russell and my favorite thing was.....sexy fries!!"

Date Wars: Matt's Date

First, coming up with my date was quite a challenge.  I had so many ideas running through my head and I simply wanted it to be perfect.  Ultimately I decided on a date that I thought was awesome!!  Here's how it went:

I returned from work and presented Margaret with two beautiful Gerber Daisy flowers (her favorite flower, mind you!).

We then proceeded to drive to dinner where I had window seat reservations at Grub.  I picked this place for two reasons:  1)  Margaret LOVES mac 'n' cheese, and 2)  we came here once before and had an amazing experience.  The food really hit the spot and I we were definitely enjoying our time together.  I got the mac 'n' cheese with add-ons of bacon, sun dried tomatoes, and truffle oil.  Let's just say that both of us would do terrible things to get our hands on a dish that good!  Margaret got the chicken breast burger and it was definitely a solid combination for the mac 'n' cheese.  We shared both dishes so we both had a little slice of heaven.

Dinner finally came to an end and we were on route to the main event:  ice skating at the Yerba Buena Ice Skating rink!!  Margaret has been ice skating before and I never have, but we have talked about ice skating for a REALLY long time.  I thought it would be a really fun date to get out and do something that we have never done together before.  We shared a ton of laughs when Margaret screamed every time she almost fell and at the times when I tried doing spins in the air.  Let's just say that both of us had moments of getting on a personal level with the ice.

Great posture!

Triple mctwist with a perfect dismount and landing!

This was only one of two times that

I saw her fall.  Not too shabby!

I win date wars because this picture is now
our blog's profile picture!

Dessert WAS planned but because of a few financial surprises with the date and our exhaustion from skating, we decided to forgo dessert and just get a really large coke instead.  All in all, this was a very fun date and is something that I hope to do again with her!

San Francisco with the Evans

The Sunday before Matt and I had to move out, his fam bam came to visit us in San Francisco. And you know what we love more than visitors in SF....doing tourist-y things with our visitors. Of course, being the awesome parents they are, Matt's parents (and his sister) let us drag them around our favorite parts of San Francisco. They arrived around 11am (they drove 8 hours back and forth just to hang out with us). When they got here, they were starving (just like the two of us waiting for them). We decided to take them to Fisherman's Wharf for bread bowls filled with chowder from Boudin. If you haven't been to Boudin...you're missing out. They practically invented sourdough bread. This place practically defines San Francisco for me. We decided to sit upstairs and it was such a beautiful day out. We had a great view of the ocean and the docks...very typical San Francisco without the fog (for once). We walked around Pier 39 because it is probably my favorite place ever. I know it's tourist-y and overpriced and loud and crazy (but how could you NOT love it?). We meandered through the stores a little bit and watched a magic show.

After walking off our bread bowls (kind of), we decided to go somewhere new. Don't laugh. Matt and I have never been to Ghiradelli Square. Seriously. For a girl who loves chocolate and a guy who loves being a tourist in San Francisco, I swear neither of us have ever been there. So what better way to top off an excellent day but with ooey gooey melting chocolate and creamy ice cream (I know I'm killing myself just thinking about it). Matt's mom was the only one who had ever been there before, so it was a treat for everyone. Matt's parents each finished their own Ghiradelli sundae...I am so incredibly impressed. Abby and I shared a sundae and Matt just got two scoops of cookie dough ice cream in a waffle cone (if this kid ever ordered anything but chocolate chip cookie dough, it might blow my mind). After that day, I am definitely a believer in the Ghiradelli difference. Matt and I will definitely be back. It might now be one of my favorite places in San Francisco :)

Date Wars: Margaret's Date

I know our blog has pretty much missed out on the rest of our summer (but hopefully that means we have been having too much fun to blog). Sometimes (usually) this is true, but occasionally (the rest of the time) it's because I'm too lazy to get all my thoughts down (since I spend so much time in front of the computer at work...). Anyways, I think our last blog post talked about our date wars.

Well to remind you of the rules...

1. must be between 6-10pm
2. must spend under $50
3. must include dinner (if you cook dinner, $$ is not deducted from the $50)

Anyways, my date came first. I picked Thursday...because on Thursdays, at the California Academy of Sciences, they host Nightlife. Nightlife lets you into the Academy of Sciences (for only $12/person) to explore, drink, laugh, learn, etc. It's a museum + a fun theme. The week I picked (this was a selling point for me), the theme was Prohibition. We LOVE the Prohibition (because nothing makes you want a drink more than remembering that back then, it was like a game trying to get a cocktail). Plus everything from that era is so fun. They have better drinks (well at least more unique drinks) and everyone got to wear such spectacular clothing. Nothing says A+ date like dressing up :)

Because I was spending money on the tickets (and I wanted to be able to get us each at least one of the specialty drinks), I decided to make dinner. At the academy, they were serving a roasted pork dish (to go with the Prohibition theme) so of course, my first thought was....pulled pork! So on Wednesday overnight, I made my pulled pork in my crockpot (never thought you would hear that word again huh?). I came home in a rush on Thursday and heated up the pulled pork and lathered them onto buns. Then I served dinner with roasted potatoes and apple sauce. What's more prohibition than that? (I know...just about everything else). Anyways, as an added bonus, I decided to get us a little bit dressed up for the theme. We stopped by this great secondhand chain store in our neighborhood called Crossroads. This place has the best stuff. I know it's a little nerdy, but we had so much fun trying on "costumes." Unfortunately, I couldn't include Matt's vest and my dress in the date tab (so maybe I cheated a little bit), but you will not believe these finds. I told him his vest would have been great with a pageboy hat but he didn't believe me. I found this great simple black dress for $7. What a steal.

Anyways, we finally got to the Academy at 7, which was perfect. We snagged some tickets for the planetarium at 8:30 and then headed into the rainforest. If you haven't been to the Academy, I highly recommend it. I loved the rainforest. The best part is that you walk all the way up to the top and then take an elevator all the way down to the bottom to the underground aquarium. I don't know what it is...but I LOVE aquariums. It was so unique. And incredible. There were butterflies and birds and snakes and bugs (ok, that part isn't that cool) and then you see sharks and fish and everything. It's like being in a whole different world. I was in awe.

in the jungle...the mighty jungle...

adapting to our environment

blending in....

making friends with starfish

We grabbed a few drinks (one for each of us) and watched a demonstration of a bartender making a pisco sour. Everyone was so into the prohibition thing. I think any other week would not have been as magical. We walked around and explored the museum a little bit more until it was time for the planetarium show. I've seen a show in there before and it's cool...but there are cooler things at the Academy. Like the living roof. It was freezing outside (and it was dark), but you can just tell that the living roof is INCREDIBLE. I think it's one of the biggest living roofs in the country (correct me if I'm wrong). But it would be spectacular to see during the day. 

hahahhahahah no words.

Honestly, this is one of the best dates I've ever been on (probably because I'm such an excellent planner). But it was just a new experience for us. I picked it because we walked through Golden Gate Park one day and Matt was yapping about how cool it would be to go in there, so I think it was perfect for our date. Definitely one of the best ways to spend our last few weeks in San Francisco.

Hopefully Matt had as much fun as I did :)

date wars

matt has two weeks left in san francisco. so the next two wednesdays, we are having date wars. i am planning our first date on next wednesday and he is planning our second date the wednesday after that. i know we don't have that many followers, but hopefully you guys participate. we are going to post our dates afterwards and we want you guys to vote for the best date idea (which will be MINE!!!). winner pays for a third (and probably final date for a while).

hopefully his date knocks my socks off (because that will be a pretty sweet date). wish us luck!!!!!

beer brewing

Last Wednesday, Margaret and I had Russell and Jaleen over to brew my first batch of beer ever!!  I am very excited to say that in approximately 4 weeks I will be drinking my home made IPA that I have named Evy's Black Cap IPA.  The process took about 3 hours altogether and was extremely nerve wracking only because it was my first time brewing.

The whole night was a lot of fun.  Russell and I were totally involved with the brewing process while Margaret and Jaleen were obsessing over their Kindles.  We kept Jaleen and Russell up pretty late but I can safely say that I wouldn't have been nearly as comfortable brewing if Russell wasn't there.  He's a seasoned veteran when it comes to home made brewing.

Friends!

Straining the wort

I love hoppy beers

Anyway,  the beer is sitting idly in a corner for the next two weeks until it will be ready to be bottled.  I can't wait to see how it is going to turn out!