food is best stumbled upon.

This past week was the first Sunday that I missed an entry, but my excuse is that I was home for Thanksgiving and when I'm home everything else in real life stops. It was a bit of an unconventional Thanksgiving - went to the movies (saw The Descendents), had salmon for dinner (and brussel sprouts - obviously) and played a few rousing games of bananagrams. My parents recently renovated their kitchen and it was a dream to cook in; in fact I could live in this kitchen. I might be moving back to good old Covington at some point in my life just to be with this kitchen. I returned to SF on Monday night so I had a solid six days at home.

Some highlights from my time in WA/Seattle include: sushi with Emma, going out with high school folks and singing a little karaoke (along with it, more so), eating brunch with Janelle and Kenzie, making Italian bread with my mom, hearing all about Portland from an old friend and confirming that Portlandia is mostly true, and talking to my dad about his new band. All in all, a great trip.

This week I took it pretty easy and crashed most days after work. Mine and Maddy's Friday night consisted of laundry, bad TV and buying a mini Christmas tree. It's small, but fits perfectly in a nook in our apartment. Enter visitor #4 - Corey - a friend from UMass and current resident of Denver (I must visit Denver now that I've heard all about it from an insider). He arrived on Saturday around noon and we wasted no time, heading to the Mission for lunch. Our friend Eric recommended Tartine Bakery and I've been meaning to go for a while so we checked it out. There was a line, but it moved quickly and the shortbread I had was so tasty.

From the Mission, we walked through the Castro and up to Alamo Square to see the infamous Painted Ladies (essentially the Full House houses). Alamo Square is just north of the Haight and I wanted to go to Amoeba Music - my brother and dad have been talking about it for years and now I know why. It is the mecca of music stores. New, used, obscure, everything. I can't wait for a rainy day to just go there and spend hours searching through albums. We then headed to Mad Dog in the Fog to meet up with a group and I was immediately distracted by the tables right as we walked in that have taps and kegs at the table. The system tracks how much you pour, which could get costly and dangerous, but is equally awesome. We enjoyed a few beers (and also experienced a record three beers spilled in less than 15 seconds) then headed in search of food. We ended up to be across the street at Rosamunde Sausage Grill because the smell of onions and sauerkraut lured us in. They had a vegan sausage ( surprisingly good) but what isn't good when it's smothered with the fixings and spicy mustard? Next we walked to another bar close by called The Page - very fitting because it was on Page Street. We called it an early night after that then spent two hours listening to Tiny Desk Concerts on NPR (which blew my mind) and ate popcorn made over the stove (best decision of the day).

Sunday funday was spent doing more walking, but started off right with a run outside. The weather has been amazing these past few days and I'm still in denial it's December. Lombard Street is not far from my apartment so we ran to the top to look down - it's amazing that people actually use it for the purpose of getting from point A to point B. We did a lot more walking today - up to Coit Tower then to the Wharf to see the sea lions, smell the seafood and see the Bushman. Who is the Bushman you ask? Click on the link. I remember this guy from when I was a kid and he's still doing his thing. Funnily enough I was telling Corey about him only moments before we ran into him. We then stumbled upon an amazing farmers market at Fort Mason and purchased spoils for dinner tomorrow. We ate samples for lunch, discovered a new dip (roasted leeks, lentils, and garlic) and I bought kale (obviously).

The afternoon consisted of a Bloody Mary at Nook (I'm obsessed), bananagrams (I'm obsessed) and sitting in the sun. Although it started to get windy and a bit cold, we had our minds set on playing a game of bocce in Alta Vista Park. The views from the park are amazing. I still am in awe of every view I see of the city - it's just surreal. For dinner we headed out to Richmond for sushi at Sushi Bistro on the recommendation of someone I met while home for Thanksgiving and also from Eric. I got a tip to get a roll that's off the menu, which I won't divulge what it's called, but if you visit and want sushi we're going there and getting it. Best sushi roll ever.

I'm looking forward to a full week and some time out in Brentwood this weekend. But what I'm really looking forward to is the feast Corey and I will be making tomorrow. Thanks Fort Mason farmers market!

 Outside of Tartine Bakery with the building across the street reflecting off the window