Easter 2014 - No Traveling Necessary

Friday, April 18, 2014 - Good Friday

Amazing hot sauce

My bosses are pretty awesome. We get lots of days off and even a few half-days thrown in through the year.  Good Friday is one of those half days.  It's actually more like a two-thirds day.  I work from 9 to 2 pm, but that's a better deal than 9 - 5, since we still get paid the extra hours.

Secret gift from Leanne

I returned home after work on Friday to find a package on my doorstep.  Whatever could it be?  My friend Leanne had left a bag of hot sauce for me from a taqueria near her home in San Jose, about an hour away.  A very thoughtful gesture from my very thoughtful friend.

I packed up the food Casey and I had prepared the night before along with some items donated by co-workers, and prepared to leave our home for a few hours of volunteer work.  We carpooled with the neighbor that lives below me, and arrived at the Mountain View House Shelter in Martinez about an hour before we were expected to serve a hot, homemade dinner to a group of 30 or more homeless people.  This is the second year Casey and I have helped here, and the first time that we asked our friends if they'd mind contributing to the important cause.  The families living at this shelter are homeless, but because they have very young children they may temporarily stay at this safe shelter.  It was mostly young, single mothers.  None of the 14 children were older than 5 years.  Last year, we saw a newborn, barely a week old.

Casey preparing and heating food

Our neighbor and volunteer, Leela

They devoured the meaty spaghetti sauce I had simmered and seasoned so well. In fact, only one bowl was left at the end of the night. A very small bowl.  I'd used almost 5 pounds of meat! A huge bag of large bread rolls was finished, and a salad was picked at.  I ended up taking the salad home because it looked like their fridge was full of hearty vegetables, all at the point of wilting and going bad.  I guess heartier foods are more popular around here. The hardest moments about this evening were upon first arrival, and then at the end.  When we arrived, a woman with a one year old boy and a two year old girl was in the dining room. She'd carry the one year old outside with her to go smoke, but the little girl just wanted to stay with us and asked over and over to be held.  My neighbor held her and when she went to put her down the girl said she wanted to be held more.  The mother had her headphones on and couldn't even hear us as we asked questions. "Go play. Go play," she kept telling her daughter.  Two year olds don't just "go play."  They need to be played with.  So that broke our hearts.  Then at the end, a young man and woman came in and sat quietly in the back. Casey noticed them and asked if they'd eaten.  They said "no" so he got up from the table where he'd just sat to eat and served them plates of food.  The woman asked if she could have "just a little more" and he emphatically said that of course she could.  How hard it is to ask sometimes. For food, for help, for someone to hold you.  Our hearts broke for every person and child at the shelter.  We cleaned up at the end and went home to a house we felt very grateful to be living in.

Amy Casey, Chris & Sara - throwing strikes!

Saturday, April 19, 2014 - Bowling With Friends

New menu at the bowling alley

Diablo Valley Bowl (formerly Diablo Lanes) is located a couple miles from home, on Monument Boulevard in Concord.  We've bowled on two leagues here, and I was always the weakest bowler.  Which is why winning all three games we bowled with friends on Saturday night was absolutely shocking!

Fresh popcorn

Winning!

Our friends Chris and Sara invited us out and we all met around 9pm.  A Yelp "check-in offer" was good for buy two games, get one free, so we bowled 3 games each.  The alley recently downsized and gave up 16 lanes, saving them about $20,000 / month in rent alone.  Their food court changed ownership as well, back to the woman who ran it two owners ago. The expanded menu is nice and helps keep them competitive with the amazing menu at Danville bowl.  I ordered popcorn and it was popped fresh for me.

We've spent our last two New Year's Eve nights at this alley, with these same friends.  I love that it's close to home. And I LOVE winning (even though that doesn't happen nearly enough!!)

Our families together for Easter Brunch

Sunday, April 20, 2014 - Easter Sunday and Sunday Brunch

Blackhawk Grille Brunch Buffet

Lots of people spend Easter Sunday (or any holiday for that matter) on the road.  Freeways are slow-moving as people rush from one family to another.  No traveling was required for us this year! I planned a brunch that both of our families were invited to attend, and everyone came to us!  Nine members of Casey's and my family dined together at the Blackhawk Grille in Danville. The $45 buffet brunch was a lot of fun and the menu was outstanding. 

The Easter Bunny nibbling away

The setting was very pretty also.  The Grille has an outdoor patio next to the water that runs through the beautiful shopping plaza.  We all sat at a large table inside and I enjoyed getting to see all of my loved ones together.  Casey's sister wasn't able to make it, but my sister was there, both of our sets of parents, and Casey's grandmother, Matchi.

We went home after brunch, full from all the delicious food, and thankful to have two families that enjoy the company of one another.

Monday, April 21, 2014 - Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We had celebrated my Dad's birthday a day early, since we'd all gathered for Easter brunch.  It actually wasn't much of a birthday celebration, aside from Happy Birthday wishes. We didn't get a gift or card, but I think he enjoyed eating out as a family.

Instead of going to my parent's house, I left work early Monday and drove to downtown Walnut Creek. Massimo Ristorante was the location for Yelp's Restaurant Week Kick-Off Party, sponsored by Maserati.  Restaurant Week is once a year, in many of the cities in this area.  Several of the nicer restaurants will prepare prix fixe menus for lunch and dinner.  $20 - $30 will get you a great meal (for a great price!) The Kick-Off is just a sampling of the restaurants that will participate all week long.  We enjoyed free food and drinks and time with our friends.

When we arrived home I found our cactus had bloomed and beautiful flowers were all over our little plants.  I also checked in on my hot sauce bottle.  I certainly had used a lot of hot sauce (more than half the bottle in three days!!) I reflected on my weekend: starting off with a gift from a friend, our opportunity to give food and love to families in the community, and the blooming and new life of a flower at the end.  It was a really blessed Easter weekend!

Jack of All Trades and Peacock Gap, April 12-13, 2014

April 12, 2014  - Jack of All Trades Market, Oakland, CA

Singing in French

Unique!! Beautiful, used shoes

I was pretty excited when my friend Lauren invited me to join her for a weekend surfing at Stinson Beach. My husband said he was happy to watch us from the safety of the sandy shores. As fate would have it, a few days before the trip, three surfers were caught in a riptide that ultimately left one of them missing in the ocean. So when Lauren cancelled the trip due to lodging complications, I wasn't that disappointed.  Instead, I was happy that a coworker told me about the "Jack of all Trades" event taking place at Oakland's Jack London Square.



Wonderful live band playing

Not really knowing what this festival included, we showed up and were happy to find that the title fit the description perfectly.  It's a monthly flea market for local designers, antiques, vintage apparel, art, food, and live music at Jack London square. The vendors had a variety of goods ranging from used clothing, to vintage toys, old furniture, do-it-yourself terranium building, to jewelry, homemade lotions and oils, and homemade hot sauces. We enjoyed walking around - the weather was great! Jack London Square sits on the waterway in Oakland and a sailing event was taking place simultaneously.  We listened to wonderful live music and I purchased a (VERY) hot sauce from a local company, Om Oliva.

Sailing Event at Jack London Square

Casey found a gently used pair of men's Gucci dress shoes in his size and bought them for $20.  I also found a body butter made by the woman selling it, and purchased a citrus fragrance for $5.  As we started to get hungry we found ourselves disappointed that the only choice was a pop-up fried food stand, so I ordered some garlic fries ($6). I don't like to throw away food but about halfway through the soggy, greasy fries we tossed them and decided to go to a friend's.

I happily called my coworker Doug, as he had invited me to when he'd told me about the market earlier in the week.  We stopped for a visit at the home he shares with his girlfriend Aimee in the Ellington building only a couple of blocks away.  It was a short walk and the beautiful building was easy to find; it's the tallest, prettiest one in that area.  His condo was almost on the top floor of the 16-story building.  The two bedroom, two bath, two balcony home was nothing short of tropical.  Life flourished on the counters and outdoor spaces. Tons of beautiful, tropical plants! His balcony overlooked the water and you could actually see all the way to the Bay. What a wonderful place to live!

The Ellington, Oakland

After a cold beer and some enjoyable conversation, we left their home and walked across the street to Annex Burger who had opened one day earlier.  Their "come eat our meat" sign out front describes the place perfectly.  Even the veggie burger was a beef patty with veggies inside.  So I ordered fries.  Yes, more fries.  These ones were also not crispy and I ate about half.  I don't do really well on little food and I was starting to get noticeably irritable.  I told Casey I could wait to eat until we got home, but I think he thought it was a better idea to get some food in me now, so he walked me to Souley Vegan and then walked to get our car out of the parking garage.  A green garden salad ($6) took 13 minutes to get to my table, and that really frustrated me even more.  Once we got home I made some popcorn before bed, but was pretty dissatisfied with my eating experiences on that sunny Saturday.

April 13, 2014 - Yelp's Tee Party at Peacock Gap

Shown here, a previous breakfast, cooked perfectly

Waking up hungry (as usual) we went to one of our favorite diners: Plaza Café in Pleasant Hill.  Not surprising to us, the line was out the door for this cash-only favorite, but at least we didn't have a long wait before being seated.  Everything from that point on was a different story.  We waited to get menus (even though we knew what we wanted), we waited to get drinks (until I got up and asked a second time for them), and then we waited for food that wasn't nearly as good as usual.  Husband ordered a side of gravy, and I ordered my Hollandaise on the side. Our waitress confused this and my plate was drenched in H. sauce. It had taken so long for the order that I let it slide.  Neither of our hashbrowns were crispy, even though in the past they've been served dark brown (as pictured). So we paid our cash and left disappointed but ready to move on to something awesome.  Brunch was only meant to tide us over until the Yelp party at Peacock Gap!

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge

After getting a notary call and performing the $10 service, we drove across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge toward the North Bay and headed East toward China Camp.
Destination: Peacock Gap Golf Club!

We arrived at the event which boasted 400 or so party attendees.  Stations for wine, beer, and champagne were set up all around the room.  I stuck with Honest Tea and Hubert's (amazing) Lemonade, trying two of their three flavors and finding that the Original was my favorite. Not too sweet at all!

In the center of the room there was a hot station where chefs were frying individual, customized plates of mashed potatoes, mixed with toppings of your choice (shrimp, spinach, green onion for me, but there were TONS of toppings) and then smothered in gravy or sour cream and served in a martini glass. Very fun! Additionally, tables of hummus and olives and meats, and every cheese you could name, sat on opposite sides of the room.  The open room was spacious and airy and had a "Watch the Birdee" do-it-yourself photo booth in the corner.

Outside, a huge patio and lawn had people playing bocce ball, croquet, and badminton, which we also participated in.  Yelp events are always a lot of fun. We had more than 10 friends at this one and really enjoyed making the rounds to say hi to them.  It was a beautiful day, very warm and sunny!  The newly renovated Golf Club was huge and you could hardly tell how many people were in attendance at the "Tee Party".  It was another great day spent together.  A notary call on the drive home was our last stop for the weekend, and made me glad I stuck to free lemonade instead of free champagne.  But only a little glad... I did have one glass of bubbly, and it was most certainly enjoyed!