Tina, Amit, Adam, and I played a round of Feast for Odin at Adam’s place. It was fun, and I took a different strategy than I normally do. It didn’t pay off in the end. Tina did emigration and pillaging and ran away with the game. Amit did well on pillaging and got a solid second. Adam and I were pretty far behind with third and fourth.
Afterwards we went to Tap’t, so Tina could get some princess cake. I got a fantastic ginger mead.
Stephanie, Adam, and I went on the Napa wine train that goes from Napa City to St. Helena. We got there a little early and decided to walk around the city for a bit after checking in for the train. We found a coffee shop and a charcuterie, that we stopped by again later.
We then went to the train and got on. The train was only half full at 15 of 30 spots taken. We got a nice breakfast on the way to the first winery, Domaine Chandon. They were a typical winery, and we got a nice tasting of some sparkling wine. It was a place we could go hang out during a work remote day, as they had a massive patio. On the way to the second winery we got a soup and salad. The second winery, Hall, was our favorite of the three. They were clearly about creating a good place to be, and it is a place we might go to hang out. The only issue being that it requires a membership to be in their hanging out area. They had art all around, with the most icon piece being a giant silver bunny in the front called ‘Bunny Fufu.’ Hall also had the best wine of the trip, by general unanimous agreement, 2015 hall terra secca cabernet sauvignon. We had a nice dinner on the way to the third and final winery, Inglenook. They had a lot of interesting old things: books, clothes, mechanical objects. They had also built a cave into to house their wines as they aged. We took the train back to Napa and had a nice desert. The wine and food was generally great. A few of the dishes and a few of the wines were fantastic.
We then went back to the charcuterie, and Adam got some food for Saturday. We went to Grace’s Table for dinner as it was recommended by Michelin. Adam drove us back and we went right to bed.
Stephanie and I had lunch with her parents on Saturday, which was nice. We went to a small place called Lyfe Kitchen in downtown Palo Alto. This was a nice place with reasonable prices. The food was tasty and healthy. The Lees seemed like they were in decent health and happy.
Before lunch we stopped by the chocolate garage. It was nice to be back, and we finished off the prepaid amount I had put in. We have a lot of chocolate to make it through now, so we’ll have to find people to share them with.
After Lunch we stopped by home and milk pail, then went to San Carlos for some truffle oil at Olive Crush. We ended up also getting brined olives and garlic. They were tastier than any olives I’ve had before, and even Steph liked the olives. The brined garlic was amazing. We then stopped by the Redwood Coast Cidery, and had some amazing cider. Stephanie was nice enough to drive so I could have more than one. I started out with the Biker’s and then got a KLR. Both very tasty.
Steph and I were joined by Irene, Tina, and Jeremy for a nice paint nite. I got a mixed coffee drink, and decided to go way off from the guide once the background was done. I really liked how the kitties turned out and bonus points if anyone knows who the person is in my painting.
Steph and I went to Karaoke with Leyan, Kevin, Lindsay, Andrew, and Debby. We had a great time, and got to sing all the songs we wanted. There were a lot of Christmas classics going around. I really enjoyed singing “Chestnuts Roasting” as well as “Baby, it’s Cold Outside.” The “Baby, it’s Cold Outside” song is so creepy, but I really love the way the harmony and counterpoint in the duet, despite the words to the song. Steph got really into a few of the songs, and I thought it was adorable. I did a few of my classic karaoke songs like one of LMFAO’s, one from Billy Joel, and American Pie. Lindsay brought an interesting drink that was purple with sparkles and it had a decent amount of alcohol in it. It wasn’t all that tasty but it still hit the spot. I had a really good time and would love to do it again.
Christian and I met at Saigon City for some pho, and it was pretty good. We had a great chat about where he is, and all the new things that he is going to be looking forward to. We went to a nearby bar and had a few drinks. On the way there the train in front of the one I was on hit a car. That made me about 20 minutes later than I was hoping to be, but I had planned to get there an hour early and hang out at Philz until Christian got in, so not a big deal.
Steph had a great get together of probably 20 people for Mac ‘n’ Cheese. She made 3 casserole dishes of it, and it was all delicious. On top of that Wit cooked 2 more casserole dishes of mac ‘n’ cheese, and a big pot of tomato soup. I broke out some of the cider, and it was a wonderful gluttonous evening. I played Nick in a game of Balloon Cup, and won by a tiny margin. We also decided to play a game of 7 wonders with Nima, and I lost that gloriously. I was stuck between strategies, and it didn’t pan out. Chris destroyed in that game with a full set of science; not a single other person played a science card.
We tested out the games again with some friends at Beachhead. There was a lot of positive feedback and a lot of good information we got out of it. Steph and I cooked a good bit of Tom Yom, as well as Curry. Both dishes turned out really well. We had a crowd of about 10 people come and test, which is just about the right number. We broke out the cider and a good bit of it got drunk.
We met Brian and one of his friends at San Pedro Square Market, drinking at MarketBeer Co. The place was very cute, and there were many options for food and drink around. I didn’t get anything, bust Steph got a tasty cider and pho.
It's an Exciting World 