4.19.15 - 6th Anniversary celebration

Yesterday Ellen and Bryon drove up from the bay area so they could babysit Clara overnight while Jack and I celebrated our anniversary. They got here in the afternoon, and I spent an hour or so showing Ellen how to diaper and feed Clara and explaining Clara's cues and how to put her down for bed time. It was fun. Ellen is pretty laid back and confident about the whole thing, and I'm confident in her because of her confidence, and because she's smart. Having a babysitter I trust makes a big difference in how much I can relax while away.

Anyway, so Jack and I got ready to go, and, on his suggestion, went to get some sushi in advance of dinner, since dinner would really just be small food plates. We went to our favorite tucked away sushi spot - Ju Hachi - and happened to get there right when their Happy Hour started. That means we got Jack's favorite--California rolls--for $5 each. I also ordered a roll I'd been curious about many times before: the Madonna roll. It's fried chicken in a sushi roll. I don't think it counts as real sushi, but it was still delicious. Another first: mochi chocolate ice cream for dessert. The texture was strange but, hey, it was chocolate, so I was happy.

Fried chicken roll.

Meanwhile the weather was absolutely perfect. Probably low- or mid-70s and sunny. That can make a big difference in the mood too. It was so comfortable.

We drove downtown to check in to our hotel. They charge extra for parking so we parked a few blocks away and walked, but I was kind of glad for the chance to walk around. I'm home alone with Clara a lot--not much walking around in my own apartment. When she gets a little older maybe we'll go for walks together around the neighborhood, but for now I really am just in the apartment a lot. So walking a few blocks to the hotel in the perfect weather was pretty nice.

The hotel (the Hyatt) had automated check-in. Given how long airports have had the same, I wasn't surprised, but I'd never gotten to use automated check-in for a hotel before and I liked it. Skipped the line, just like with self-checkout lanes at grocery stores. And the hotel was beautiful. Huge, and clean and new and pretty. There were a lot of people milling around that were very dressed up (I wasn't dressed up at all). Then again there were also a lot of people dressed for what looked like road and bike trips around the area to have some California adventures. Anyway, we found our room which had a king size raised bed and a view of the state capitol park. I snuck a cat nap before dinner and it was so peaceful and uninterrupted.

Then we headed out to Revolution Wines. We picked that place because we had a Groupon: $32 for 4 glasses of wine and 4 small plates. Some wine tasting places are kind of formal, but this was a very laid back atmosphere. In fact it reminded me of Berkeley in a nostalgic way. We got there about an hour before sunset and got a table for two on their patio. No wait. About 2/3rds of the tables were full, which I think is perfect--you feel like the place is happening but it's not overly crowded or noisy.

I have to say, most of the restrictions I had during pregnancy didn't really bother me, but I did miss drinking wine. Since having Clara I've had a glass here and there, not enough to really savor it and not enough to get buzzed. So this date was the first chance I had to really enjoy wine again. I ordered a white wine described as having flavors of pear and nectarine. It was delicious! Not too sweet. And there's something about the summer evening open air and first sipping wine after not having any in a bit that strongly reminded me of L'abri, also in a very nostalgic way. I really enjoyed that. Jack liked his Zinfandel too.

We got four small plates: bruschetta, bacon cheese dip, a fromage plate, and, easily best of all, a fruit bruschetta. That included the same crusty bread but covered in honey and diced pears and some kind of goat cheese. It was amazing! I'm glad Jack had the idea of getting sushi earlier, because we weren't too terribly hungry and we could take our time and munch and enjoy the flavor.

I really like dates that last a little while. Jack and I nearly always get food for our dates, but we both eat so quickly our dates rarely last even an hour. But wine is different--you sip it slowly--so we were there for almost 2 hours and had plenty of time to talk and joke. It was great. So relaxing and tasty.

Afterward we went back to the hotel and finally got Jack's poor, ancient laptop to play the newest episode of Game of Thrones (we decided to watch it then because we knew we could watch it all the way through, uninterrupted). I barely made it until the end, though, I was so sleepy. Then I passed out in a huge comfortable bed for the night, and that was great too.

When we got back the next morning, Ellen reported there had been no problems with Clara, which is great. I was glad to see her and cuddle her again but also glad for the time one-on-one with Jack. Overall a wonderful anniversary!