I visited Rob for the long weekend and I am reminded of how much I love the Bay Area during this time of year. I can't quite pinpoint what exactly it is that is so intoxicating-- the flame-colored trees, the crisp air, the look of the overcast sky perhaps?

We visited Alexander's for drinks and small plates on Friday evening. They are amazing! They hired a master mixologist from LA to put together the drinks menu and it was totally worth the visit just for that. I was fortunate enough to go on a slow night where I could chat a little with some of my old buddies and ex-managers.

We went to see Lust, Caution and I think the best word to describe it is Intense. Leave it to Ang Lee to be the expert at portraying the rawest of human emotions, both suppressed and expressed. I was expecting it to be like Black Book but it turned out to be very different. Recommended, but if you're uncomfortable watching sex scenes in the theatre (which I kinda was...), I'd wait for the dvd to come out and watch it behind closed doors instead.

Sunday we went to the farmer's market. I absolutely love farmers markets! I used to go a lot more when I was a teenager and I'd like to regain that habit again. You can have breakfast just by feasting on the samples. I bought persimmons, middle eastern flatbread, cinnamon bread, flowers, and eggplant. We also got a catnip plant for Angie's cats. Rob introduced me to a great coffee shop that he found in the area. I've decided that that will be my study spot for the summer.

After that, we visited my veteran (aka dad) and my extended stepfamily for a bit. At dinnertime we headed over to Angie and Josh's new place for an Iron Chef-like competition between the two. The secret ingredient is...pasta, and they both pulled it off brilliantly. It even included wine pairings. Rob and I were part of the judging panel plus a few other people that were there. We ended up playing a card game called Bang! which was quite entertaining.

This weekend involved so many things and people that I'm thankful for and that I love. It's not often that I get to reflect on every aspect of my life and be satisfied with it, but I think that right now I'm as content as I can possibly be.