Coupled Confessions

On Monday, Dan and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary! We of course both had to work since it was a Monday, but we went to dinner at the world renowned Chez Panisse. Located in the “Gourmet Ghetto” of Berkeley and founded by the famous Alice Waters, it is credited as the birthplace of California cuisine. It frequently makes it into the ranks of the top 50 restaurants in the world, and reservations fill up very quickly. Dan and I were lucky to get a reservation in 8:45… pretty late for dinner, but Chez Panisse was well worth the wait!

Dan surprised me with flowers before dinner!

Pretty anniversary flowers.

Chez Panisse! The mecca for foodies in the Bay Area.

The dinner course for the evening.

Olive tapenade before the dinner.

Candlelight dinner. Note the pretty etching on the glass!

The first course.

Taku river sockeye salmon carpaccio with cucumber and anise hyssop

The carpaccio transported me to heaven.

The hubby loved the carpaccio, too! Patiently waiting for the main course...

Wolfe Ranch quail grilled over fig branches with sweet corn pudding and pepperonata

Chez Panisse's dessert drink menu... everything sounds so good!

Pêche Melba: Peaches in raspberry sauce with vanilla ice cream.

A delicious dessert to end an unforgettable dinner!

They gave us cocoa-covered toasted almonds with candied blood orange peel to munch on before we left. These were really good too! (I only remembered to take the photo when we were almost done with it... oops!)

Happy 2 Years hubby! ♥

It’s been an amazing two years, and although this puts a cap on our status as “newlyweds,” we’re very excited for the many more years to come and all the anniversaries that we’ll get to celebrate with each passing year. We are constantly reminded that it is thanks to our family and friends and all their love and support that we are who we are today, and we feel humbled and so grateful for having all of you as such an important, ever-present, and precious presence in our lives. We can’t wait to build more amazing memories together with each other, as well as with you!

© 2008 Lilia Photography

A couple of weekends ago, my friend Sue from college was in San Francisco for some interviews. I spent a Saturday with her and her friend Matt wandering around the city. Here are some pictures from our adventures in San Francisco….

Starting the day off with Roli Roti brunch at the Ferry Building!

The Roli Roti Plate. Best rotisserie chicken ever! The potatoes are also delicious.

After cleaning off our plates, we went inside the lovely Ferry Building.

We decided to try some of the oysters, since they were only $1.50 each!

Oyster Shots!

Sue with her oyster.

The oysters were great! Will definitely have to go get some more there again.

The three of us outside the Ferry Building.

Sue jumping for joy in front of the Bay Bridge.

I jump!

Matt jumps!

Sue jumping again. This would become a common occurence/theme for the rest of the day.

Finding our way around Telgraph Hill.

Matt jumps at the intersection.

Climbing the Filbert Steps... that's right, all 103 of them!

Looking down at the steps... this was still less than a tenth of it. Still a long way to go!

Halfway up, we stopped to smell the flowers.

Almost there! The Coit Tower is just ahead.

The Coit Tower! We made it!!!

Sue jumping at the Coit Tower.

Exhausted from the climb. Excuse my unattractiveness... but I nearly died climbing those million steps.

The view of the bay from the Coit Tower.

Us outside the Coit Tower, after regaining our composure.

Sue jumping on the streets of San Francisco.

My failed attempt at flying.

Matt got a lot of air!

Sue trying to figure out where Liguria Bakery is... when we were right in front of it. lol.

After grabbing some focaccia, we took a break in Washington Park to sit and enjoy the beautiful day.

The pizza focaccia from Liguria Bakery was so good! They gave us so much too; we couldn't finish it.

Walking through Fisherman's Grotto. There were so many people!

We walked past Hyde Street Pier, towards the Aquatic Park...

Finally here! Sue taking photos from the Aquatic Park.

View of San Francisco from the Aquatic Park. We walked all the way from the Coit Tower (the little tower to the left in the distance) to here! It was quite a lot of walking...

Ghirardelli Square and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

Sue and I with San Francisco behind us, before leaving to go to dinner.

It was so good seeing Sue again, since I hadn’t seen her in over three years, since I graduated from Tech. I wish her all the best and I know she’s going to be one of the best architects the world has ever seen, wherever she goes. San Francisco would be lucky to have her!

...and I'll end this one last signature jump from Sue!

Memorial Day weekend just flew by! It was so nice to have the three-day weekend to get some relaxation in — we saw some friends we hadn’t seen in a while, watched movies and Japanese dramas, and got a lot of shopping done in preparation for Hawaii. I love shopping for summer clothes! (Except that it never gets quite hot enough to wear them around here.)

Here are some photos from Sunday, when we went to a BBQ hosted by Dan’s coworker and friend Kane, and his wife Cristina. Dan loves lizards, so he had fun with their pet bearded dragons….

Dan and Cristina at the BBQ

Cristina with Petra... Cristina's due in a month! Can't wait to meet their baby!

Hello there, little fellow.

Mouth wide open.

Our gracious host Kane in the background.

Earlier in the weekend, I went on the hill in El Cerrito with my friends Yumi and Mark, and discovered this fun swing atop the hill. It’s just a board hung on a single thick rope from a tall branch, but you can get a lot of air with it. The hill is the prominent one you can see from the highway (the 80), and the view from there is pretty neat! One one side, you can see all the East Bay hills, and if you turn around, you’re greeted with a sweeping view of the whole bay and San Francisco, even the Golden Gate Bridge! I took Dan back to the hill after the BBQ so he could check it out too.

Me on the swing atop the hill in El Cerrito.

Perhaps having a little too much fun.

Dan's turn on the swing. The branch is pretty high!

It’s back to work tomorrow, but I’m grateful that we were able to have a relaxing, productive weekend. I can’t believe it’s already June!!! Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend as well!

We’ve been lucky the past couple weeks to have some of our friends from the East Coast in the area on separate occasions — living on the other side of the country, we don’t get many opportunities to see my friends from back home, so it’s always nice when they come to visit San Francisco.

A couple weeks ago, April and Ed came to visit. April and I were close friends in middle school, and although we lost touch after we moved on to go to separate high schools and universities, she got back in touch with me right before I moved to California and she and Ed were able to make it to our wedding two years ago! April and Ed live in gorgeous Georgetown back in DC, but April just got accepted at UC Berkeley so she has decided to get her PhD there starting in the fall. They were visiting the area to see the school, so we caught up with them over dinner in Berkeley. They will both be moving to the Bay Area in August, and I’m so excited that I’ll have one of my dearest childhood friends nearby again!

Having dinner with April and Ed at La Med in Berkeley.

This past weekend, we got to spend a whole day on Saturday with our friends Kathleen and Carlos. I went to both middle school and high school with Kathleen, and they were in the city this weekend for a conference that Carlos was attending.We spent the day at the farmer’s market by the Ferry Building and at Pier 39 before meeting up with Greg, another one of our good high school friends who lives in the city, over dinner. Here are some pictures!

Dan and I with Kathleen and Carlos at the Ferry Building in San Francisco

Enjoying some mouthwatering rotisserie chicken from the Roli Roti truck!

Dan with a Scharffen Berger mini-cake from the Miette bakery. So round and cute!

Walked over to Fisherman's Wharf... it was a windy day at Pier 39.

Kathleen and Carlos -- cute couple!

Kathleen and I at Pier 39.

The boys.

With a lobster at Fisherman's Wharf...

Greg took us to dinner at Nirvana, a delicious Burmese restaurant in the Castro.

Jumbo Broiled Pagan Prawns

Grilled Five Spice Chicken with Lemongrass

Kama Curry Chicken

Zesty Seafood Noodles

Tiger Prawn Noodles

After dinner, we stopped by Hot Cookie for dessert, and caught up over tea at a café in the Castro. So good seeing everyone again!

It’s always nice to see some familiar faces from back home — it makes me feel a little less homesick. I love that even though it’s been well over a decade since middle school and high school, we can still pick up right where we left off.

Whether it be here in the Bay Area or the next time we’re back in DC, I can’t wait to see more of the friends I left back East. I miss everyone so much!

The other weekend, Dan and I spent a Sunday afternoon in Piedmont. It’s a small affluent city surrounded by Oakland and is known for its beautiful architecture and trees. I’d never been to Piedmont before, so we stopped by a park and walked around. There was so much green, I loved it! The area reminds me of my hometown of Vienna, with its lush foliage and manicured lawns. I miss the East Coast….

Me in Piedmont

"The hills are alive ~ ♪"

Amazing redwood trees...

Here is a little video I took…

A pretty fountain at the entrance of the park.

Pretending to be part of the fountain.

Us in lovely Piedmont.