San Francisco & Muffins

I'm supposed to post. Post about San Francisco. I think this is mostly because the last time I posted here was December 24, 2008.

We went to San Francisco in August and had a great time. It was kind of wild, since we left a going-away-luncheon at the University Club in San Diego on Friday and flew to San Francisco, ran around for two days, and then flew back to San Diego on Sunday evening. My whole family was there, including Cinderella. We also got to meet Peter's friend Jenna. Tourist-wise, we

visited Lombard Street, the Golden Gate Bridge, the King Tut Exhibition, Alcatraz, and the Pier/Embarcadero. Exciting? Yes. Touristy? Yes. Have you been there? If you've been to San Francisco, then Yes.

Food wise, we had a pretty good weekend. Garcon (Tasty), Mission Steak (Nice Breakfast), the De Young Museum Cafe (Fine), Cafe Pescatore (Decent Brunch), and Chez Lester (Awesome). This may have been the nicest set of restaurants ever visited on a Sanford family vacation.

Anyway, super-awesome time.

As for the muffins, they're raspberry/blackberry/pecan muffins. Tasty, great texture, not too sweet, clearly not a cupcake. Anyway, here's the recipe (with a berry/nut substitution) and, well, you see the

pictures.

Temecula

This past weekend, Gregory and I spent a weekend in Temecula (pronounced Ta-MIC-u-la) California. Temecula is a small town with over 30 wineries... the Napa Valley of Southern California. It is located about an hours drive north of San Diego in an inland valley. A break in the surrounding mountain range lets in relatively cool, humid air from the Pacific Ocean, making it an ideal climate for growing grapes. We didn't experience the cool air, as it was 105 or more on Saturday!

Here is a list of wineries we visited:

• South Coast Winery Resort & Spa: we arrived too late to try the tasting room, but had dinner in their restaurant, Vineyard Rose. The food and service were excellent.
  
• Thornton Winery specializes in champagne (excuse me France, "sparkling wine") but only grows syrah grapes on-site. We enjoyed a sampling of champagne in their sit-down tasting room then moved on to a delectable lunch in the winery's restaurant, Cafe Champagne.
  
• Our next stop was Callaway Vineyards & Winery, located directly across the street. Their tasting room was noisy, but had wonderful views of the vineyards and mountains. We took an excellent tour given by Leo, who answered all our questions about barrels, grapes, and the process. Then we had dinner at the on-site restaurant: Meritage at Callway. Meritage specializes in tapas, so we sampled our way through a good portion of the menu.
• Lastly, we stopped at Mount Palomar Winery where we enjoyed their wines and were interested to taste their port and sherry. Two thumbs up for their deli, which hit the spot with some delicious sandwiches.

It was a relaxing weekend with good food and good company. If you're interested in wine or good food and happen to be in Southern California, I would recommend it!

Looking Back, Looking Forward

I fear that Facebook has become the new blog, as I joined the world of social networking and haven't posted to this since. But all hope is not lost, because here I am!

The first half of 2009 is notable for the number of visitors we had. In March and April we were fortunate enough to see two friends due to conventions taking place in town. In late May, we hosted 5 friends from my days at Mary Washington College, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. My sister came to visit over the 4th of July weekend -- living so close to the San Diego bay makes watching the fireworks a breeze! Finally, in mid-July a friend from graduate school came to San Diego for a week long vacation with her family. Whew!

What did we do with all these people? Well, I'm not too humble to say that I've developed an excellent guide to San Diego for visitors. I've found that 3.5 days is the perfect length of time to vacation in San Diego. It goes something like this:

• Day One (1/2 day): Cabrillo National Monument
• Day Two: San Diego Zoo & Balboa Park
• Day Three: USS Midway and the Embarcadero
• Day Four: La Jolla and Torrey Pines State Park

Clearly there is more to do here, however, the above schedule covers the essentials.

In early June, Greg and I returned to Connecticut to go to a Sanford family wedding, a friends' wedding, and to catch up with all our friends who we haven't seen since our own wedding. It was relaxing but also extremely social, and included an opportunity to visit a good friend who is leaving in September to become Director of Nursing at a CURE hospital in Afghanistan. Go Jen!

Looking forward, our late summer and fall will include more travel. In mid-August we'll be visiting Greg's family in San Francisco. In late September my parents are visiting at the end of a 2-week-long cruise to Alaska. In November, we'll be heading to the Midwest for Thanksgiving. And we'll be spending Christmas in the Magnolia State with my family. So mark your calendars, because we're on the move!

Yes I'm Am A Lawyer

So now it's official.  I was sworn in to the Illinois bar yesterday by my boss.  My family is here for Christmas, so they got to join me.  

Christmas Tree

This week, we finally got around to putting up our new Christmas tree.  I think it looks pretty good for a cheap, fake tree.

We need to thank my cousin Pat Jordan for his contributions to this work of art.  Pat gave us these ornaments as a wedding gift.  Which is great, 'cause they're awesome.  Just like Pat.

A Cornucopia of Museums

Happy Thanksgiving! I am pleased to report that we had a great time in Houston over the long weekend. Thanksgiving dinner was a scrumptious feast at Gravitas Restaurant. We also went to see the Houston Ballet's Nutcracker where the Sugar Plum Fairy stole the show.

Of course, we managed to squeeze in a few museums...

• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston where I enjoyed seeing American paintings which will soon go home to Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas and Claes Oldenburg's Giant Soft Fan.
• The Menil Collection surprised me by being the home of Rene Magritte's The Dominion of Light. The Menil Collection includes a stunning Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum, in which thirteenth-century Byzantine frescoes from a chapel in Cyprus are supported by a modern glass, concrete, and metal structure. The Menil Collection also encompasses an entire gallery devoted to color-challenged scribbler Cy Twombly and a chapel designed around several dark, monochromatic works by Mark Rothko. Moving on.
  
• The MFA, Houston operates Bayou Bend, the home of collector Ima Hogg, who acquired American decorative arts and installed them in her home in period-room settings. Miss Hogg is to Bayou Bend as Henry Francis du Pont was to Winterthur, so you can understand why I would want to visit. It was great to see the home and collections, as I had only seen them in catalogs.
  

Thus ends your museum-style tour of Houston, Texas. I want to extend a big thank you to my sister for putting together the weekend's schedule of feedings, ballet, and art sightings.

11 Months

So, I know it's probably not all that exciting to the rest of you, but Katherine and I are celebrating our 11 month anniversary today.  Truth be told, I don't find it all that exciting either.  Still, the marriage is going great, and this just provides a reason for us to celebrate.

If you didn't know, 11 months is the "scone" 

anniversary.  So I made Lemon Cranberry scones this morning.  And, as a public service to you, I'm linking to the recipe.  The skinny (not that you'd stay skinny eating these) is that they're easy to make.  It only took me an hour this morning from pulling out the ingredients to enjoying my pastry. And they taste great.  I don't know what else you can ask for.  Mmmmm.