Saturday  morning we were up early and back at Tartine shortly after they opened.  No significant line and we were able to find a table inside. 

Sure, Tawn was freezing on the way over but once we arrived and he tried their amazing baked goods, he was in heaven. 

Left, Tawn sampling a variety of Tartine’s goods: brioche bread pudding with cranberries and apples, morning bun, ham and herb quiche, and croissant.

After eating our fill and enjoying some lattes, we walked across 18th street to Dolores Park.  The sun was now out, making the weather much more pleasant, and we climbed up the hill to take in the sweeping view of the city.

San Francisco is a city defined by its views and its food, both of which are impressive.  Here, Tawn and I posed for some portraits with the south of Market Street area in the background.

We visited with Brad and Anne Marie, her parents, and of course their two talented daughters.  Brad grilled some fantastic tuna steaks.  Whoops – we were calling it “chicken” since the girls ostensibly don’t like fish.  Funny how much they enjoyed their grilled “chicken”.

In the afternoon, we headed back over to the Castro district and took a walk around before heading back to Anita’s.  The Harvey Milk biopic, “Milk”, is showing at the Castro Theatre for one final week before the sing-along “Sound of Music” returns. 

We would like to catch the film but I think it will end up showing in Khrungthep, so maybe there isn’t such a rush.  But the opportunity to see this film in the classic Castro Theatre, with its mighty Wurlitzer organ and the ambience of being located in the district where Harvey Milk rose to fame, seems like an opportunity that is a shame to miss.

Late afternoon, Paul drove us down to the South Bay for the holiday get-together of my high school friends.  After a brief stop at Restoration Hardware to look at table lamps, we arrived at Lilian’s mother’s house in Sunnyvale.  I haven’t been there in at least a decade and was impressed that I remembered the way.

Two years ago, Lilian and her mother (below) were in Thailand at the same time my parents were, aunt and uncles were.  The whole group of us – some dozen in all – went down to the school where I was volunteering.  We spent the first half of the day doing activities with the students, then the community made a huge lunch for us and took us on a tour of the province by canal boat.  Full story here.

Lily’s mother has been looking for a way to thank us for that unique experience, so when she heard we were going to be in town, she told Lilian to invite everyone over for dinner.  So Lily’s mother made a HUGE dinner for us.  I only managed to get a few of the pictures, but we had prime rib of beef, noodles with chicken and greens, double-fried green beans, sea bass steamed with soy sauce and green onions, bok choy with oyster sauce, steamed salmon, fried rice, spaghetti with homemade sauce, and pot stickers.  Brad brought a great green salad, Paul made an artichoke dip, and we had some other things, too.  What a meal!

Everyone was there.  For the first time, I was able to meet Samantha and Jimmy’s nephews, Maximo and Joaquin.  I’ve seen their pictures for years but had never actually met them.  So cute!  Plus, Lalima and Aaron were able to join us from LA with their son Devin, and of course Brad and Donna’s children were there, too.

Left to right, standing: Paul, Darren, Lily, her mother, John, and me.  Seated on the sofa: Brad, Donna, Anita, Eric, Jimmy, Samantha, Lalima, Devin, and Aaron.  Seated on the floor: Evan, Cara, Tawn (with Joaquin in his lap), Albert and Maximo.

A few random pics from the party:

Paul and Tawn chat in the living room.

Jimmy manages to make prime rib look very disgusting as Lalima looks on.

The boys work on decorating their Christmas Trees, left.  Right, Devin, Darren, Maximo and Joaquin show off the results of their project.

Uncle Albert shows Maximo how to uncork a bottle of wine.