Frisco

I was sent to the Oracle headquarters in San Francisco last week, for 5 days of training on Primavera. Ian had a few days off so I flew up early, he joined me, and we spent the weekend exploring the city. We were too cheap to stay the extra nights at the hotel my company was putting me up in for the week, so we stayed at Fisherman's Warf and it was perfect.

We flew in late Friday night, checked in to our hotel (Holiday Inn Express) and went to dinner in Ghiradelli Square. The pub we found provided me with a cool beverage and THE best meal I may have ever had. It was buttery, garlicy shrimp with all it's juicey juices, poured over some toasty sourdough chunks to soak it all in. I still think about it at least every other day.

That night, Ian just HAD to finish the Harry Potter movie he'd started on the plane, so he layed in bed with his headphones and mini DVD player. I thought it was funny (unfortunately, all of these pictures are from my phone):

The next day we explored the warf and went to Alcatraz.

Had to get some chowder in a bread bowl.

Alcatraz

Tour

Ian poppin' a squat in jail

Once we got back from prison island, we met up with one of Ian's old military buddies at Pier 39. The wait at Bubba Gump Shrimp was rather long, but fortunately, Forest was there to entertain us. And give us chocolate.

Ian and Forest really hit is off

On Sunday we moved to the Financial District where I'd be statying at the Hyatt Regency for the week. It was so fancy schmancy! I felt like such a yuppie getting to stay there. lol. Ian stayed through Tuesday morning so he could feel yuppie too.

Overall, the week of training was pleasent. I learned a lot, got to eat at many good places, enjoyed the hotel and had plenty of time to relax. It was great to get home on Friday though!

Here is the Ferry Building. Inside, they have all these specialty shops so for dinner one night, I picked up some crusty bread, fancy cheeses, apples, wine and chocolate. I realized that I am not a fancy cheese person soon thereafter. I thought I would puke at the smell of it. Ick! Waste of $20... But here was the nice spread I made for myself (the apples, wine and chocolate were still good. ha!):

A guy from my training class recommended this restaraunt, the Tadich Grill. I guess it's the oldest establishment in SF, going back to 1850 or so. It was a neat little place, mostly made up of this super long bar. I ordered the cioppino and it was super delish. Nice meal to bid farewell by to the city.

Las Vegas Vacation

Last weekend we headed to Vegas to celebrate my youngest sister, Becky, becoming 21 years of age. My parents joined us, along with my Aunt Mary, cousin Katherine and of course my sister and 3 of her friends.

Ian and I left a day early (Thurs) and stayed the night in Laughlin so we could enjoy the company of many a senior citizens, cheap gambling, good food and tons of free alcohol.

Here is where we always stay, the Colorado Belle:



The “riverboat” theme is fun! The best part is at night when they have this cute little band play in the middle of the casino and all the “urban campers” + local junkies come in to dance. LOL

We ended up taking a few hundred extra dollars with us to Vegas after a sucessful night at the ‘Belle. The whole gang decided to stay downtown in Vegas since most of us didn’t care about all the fine dining and overall party scene. The Fremont hotel was surprising nice inside, as I think they’d redone it fairly recently.

Unfortunately I don’t have many pics from the trip. Just a few of Ian and I goofing around.

Here I am with my classy beer-in-a-bag:



Ian enjoying the Fremont Experience:



A rediculously good drink we discovered that really F’s you up fast! HAHA



Shockingly enough, I wasn’t the one who insisted we try the deep fried oreos.. Ian wanted them in a bad way. Here he is getting ready to dive in:



MMM, fried fat:



I opted for a fried twinkie. Pretty huh?



With the exception of a rainy Saturday, Vegas treated us pretty well for the weekend. It was some good QT with the family, and hubster!