Now every February, You'll be my Valentine

Looking back on last weekend, we actually started celebrating Valentine’s day Friday.  Although I agree V-Day is overrated, an excuse for the restaurant industry to pre-fix bad menus and inflate prices 200% and all in all fairly cheesy – I am a sucker for red, pink, hearts and glitter.  Imagine how excited I was to attend a girl’s night last Friday where we were asked to bring a shoe box for a little Valentine craft, right up my alley!  Even though I pitch most of my show boxes and place my shoes in plastic containers, I have a few lying around and was so excited when I found a turquoise one.  The girl’s night was super fun, I met some really cool gals, drank lots of great wine and even got to decorate a special valentine reciprocal….haven’t done that in years.  It turned out so cute, I kept it on our living room table and we put our v-day cards in it this morning!

Saturday we met our friends Tara and Justin in Pleasanton for dinner.  We chose the Oasis Wine Bar and Lounge in Downtown Pleasanton.  Super cute place, great Kabobs, hummus and mojitos!  Would totally go there again and can’t wait to sit outside in the summer.  We probably could have sit outside Saturday night earlier, it was absolutely gorgeous all day long in the mid 70’s.  We were wearing shorts/t-shirts and were outside all day long exploring different parks and running random errands.  It would have been the perfect day to hike Mt. Diablo, maybe we’ll do that next weekend, assuming the so called rain in the forecast is a lie.

I was happy we had a chance to go out last weekend as v-day is on a Monday this year, perfect excuse to stay in.  We have dabbed in our fair share of valentine dinners out and like I said before, 9/10 times it’s a pre-fixed menu that’s never as good as the food would typically be and way more expensive.  It was nice to stay in this year, open a bottle of wine from Sonoma and let Richard cook for me!  He went to Whole Foods earlier in the day and chose the Sweetheart rib-eye.  I guess it’s called Sweetheart because it’s cut a little more thin than usual, I also heard it takes on the shape of a heart…not sure that’s true or not.  He sure did an amazing job, I don’t have the recipe to the sauce he made but it consisted of red wine, capers, mustard and scallions – I think a few other things…not sure.  He also sautéed broccolini and made red mashed potatoes.  The sauce paired amazing with everything, I really am such a lucky girl! 

J'adore Paris

As many of my blog readers know, I was recently lucky enough to go to Paris for work!  We were there to film the CIO of a large electronics distribution company and talk about why Microsoft solutions are the best business decision.  We did a short 3-4 min video while onsite and captured some great content.  I was able to travel with the same DP (Director of Photography) and Director that I have worked with on previous video shoots, which was great because I didn’t have to stress about traveling solo.  When traveling abroad for things like this, it’s typically a 4-day minimum if you’re taking into account travel days and 2 days to shoot film.  I extended the trip a day to meet up with Gina since she was in Rome which couldn’t have worked out any better!  Gina and her friend Natalie caught a flight from Rome à Paris and met me at the hotel towards the end of the day Friday.  We had Friday night to have dinner/drinks and all day Saturday to explore.  It was such an amazing experience to be in Paris with my sister, so thankful it worked out.
  
As John (Director) and Eric (DP) are avid travelers, I am always very receptive to their recommendations abroad.  Eric knows the restaurant scene like nobody I’ve ever met, he’s able to recommend multiple, local favorites and knows all kinds of background stories regarding locations, restaurant owners, chefs, you name it (on a side note, his wife is a culinary photographer, how cool is that job!?!).  The highlight of our trip was John and Eric showing me Rue Cler, a street closed to traffic in Paris characterized by markets, bakeries, Rick Steve recommended restaurants, cheese shops (O…M…G), cafés and outdoor flower shops.  Walking down the cobblestone roads and taking in the scenic and scents, you really feel like you’re in Paris.  To me, that is the authentic experience I was hoping to have during my short duration of time. 

I was actually able to try three different restaurants on three different days while I was there.  I will never forget the ambiance of the outdoor seating at Le Café du Marché.  Café du Marché is located on one of the main corners on rue Cler and you can basically sit outside, enjoy amazing food + wine (very reasonable pricing) and watch the hustle and bustle of local Parisian action.  Rick Steves calls it,  “rue Cler's living room, where locals gather before heading home, many staying for a relaxed and affordable dinner.”  He also goes on to say, “The owner priced his menu so that locals could afford to dine out on a regular basis, and it worked — many patrons eat here five days a week. For a reasonable meal, grab a chair and check the chalk menu listing the plat du jour.”  We went to Café du Marché the first night I arrived and once when my sister was in town.  Both times we ordered the Norma Dee oysters to start with a bottle of Cote de Rhone red wine, stick with what works, right?  The first night I had “confit de canard”, duck with crispy skin, sautéed potatoes and fresh garlic on top. No knife required, the duck literally pulled apart with a fork.  As I said before, the idea behind the price point at Café Du Marche is to make it affordable for locals to eat there all the time and considering this main course was around 10 euro, I’d say that goal is met!

Chef Constant is a famous in Paris for his 3 restaurants that all have great reputations.  Once again, Eric came through with this stellar recommendation and we tried out Café Constant at 139 Rue St. Dominique (http://www.cafeconstant.com).  With an early arrival of 7:00pm (most Parisians don’t venture out for dinner until at least 8:00pm) we sat up at the bar for a drink before getting seated and started out with a couple appetizers.  Has anyone ever asked you what the best thing is you ever ate?  I now have my answer to that question.  The shrimp spinach tart was probably the most amazing thing my taste buds have ever experienced.  It was a handmade, fresh pastry with topped with fresh spinach and shrimp, drizzled in a foamy sauce I can’t even begin to explain.  I’m not sure the photo even does it justice – all I can say is if you’re ever in Paris….it’s worth a visit!  We also ordered “oeufs mimosa,” French deviled eggs that will put your grandmother’s recipe to shame.  It’s a good thing we arrived early, by 9:30pm, you could not even get standing room in that restaurant, I saw many people take one look at the wait and walk away…sure goes to show a good reputation among locals! http://www.leviolondingres.com/eng_constant.htm.

"At Café Constant (no reservations, so come early for lunch and dinner) traditional brasserie food is served, at the bar, on the ground and first floor. Choose from a long list written on an antique blackboard. Prices are reasonable and won't break the bank. Starters include Cream of Puy lentilles dotted with foie gras, Oeufs Mimosa, Salade de Crudites, Terrines, etc. Mains include a Beef tartare, Penne with basil and tomatoes, Spanish omelette, steak and chips. Desserts include all the favourites such as Rice Pudding, Peach Melba, Profiterolles, Vacherin, Ile Flottante, Ice creams or cheese. Kanterbrau and L'Abbaye de Florette beers are on tap at the bar. Well-chosen wines are by the glass, half bottles and carafe. And, late in the afternoon after lunch service at Le Violon d'Ingres, the Constants usually eat here… but only you know that." - Les Restaurants de Constant

I had a friend call me and tell me this article was in the Seattle times today about rue Cler, what a coincidence!  I found the cute little map below on Rick Steves' Web site.  Here's the Seattle Times article incase anyone would like to read it: 
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2014112142_trruecler06.html

Here are some photos of our perfect Saturday afternoon at The Louvre, shopping and lunch in Paris – it was probably one of the best days ever!  Again, I'm so thankful it worked out and really do, LOVE Paris!

Ladies weekend in SanFran!

I am so behind on posting and feel like so much has happened within the last 3 weeks I can barely keep up with myself!  I have been traveling for the last 2 weeks and before that had Jill and Crystal in town for the weekend.  It was so fun to have a couple good girlfriends here to show them our new place and surroundings.  We went to our favorite bar Friday night, Norm’s Place in DT Danville while meeting up with one of Crystal’s friends (Tara) who actually lives in Tracy – no too far away from where Richard and I live!  Tara and I are actually getting together this weekend for a little girly shopping/lunch date in Walnut Creek Saturday and I’m super excited to have another girlfriend in NorCal.   It really is a small world story how Crystal and Tara worked together and met in NYC, Tara ended up in Tracy, myself in Danville and now we’re hanging out this weekend after being introduced by Crystal who lives in Seattle. 

While the girls were in town we met up with Staci (our good friend from WSU) who lives in Concord – fairly close to Danvile, it was so much fun to see her and reconnect, I’m excited to spend more time with her in the future…always wonderful to see familiar faces when relocating.  We spent Saturday night in San Francisco which was so much fun.  Saturday day we walked around the sunny city, went to the Ferry Building, had lunch on the waterfront and paid a visit to Jimmy’s (Jill’s fiancé) parents who live in an amazing flat overlooking the Golden Gate bridge.  Cindy (Jimmy’s mom) made us a delicious Italian dinner, we had a wonderful evening…possibly the highlight of the trip! 

SanFran on Saturday afternoon, beautiful!

Sunday we got up early to get ready for the SanFran Wedding Expo at the Four Seasons Hotel which was amazing.  I had actually never been to a wedding show and it was fun to see what they’re all about.  Plenty of cake tastings, Champaign, décor ideas, flowers, invites, you name it.  Since Jill and Stacy are both planning weddings so we had 2 brides in our group!

Of course, I’m a sucker for the table and floral décor – I think it’s because they’re not necessarily wedding specific.  Some of these I could see as birthday celebrations, anniversary parties, valentine’s day décor or other significant celebrations…so many ideas come to mind.

 

 I really love yellow accented with white as a wedding color scheme, obviously pink + brown was my first choice as my wedding clearly followed that palate however if I had a second choice, yellow would have been it for sure!  Yellow just emits happiness, love it!

Fun Fact:  "Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche", supposedly spoken by "a great princess" upon learning that the peasants had no bread. As brioche is a luxury bread enriched with eggs and butter, it would reflect the princess's obliviousness to the nature of a famine.

Check out this blue sparkling wine, can an adult beverage get any cuter?!  It’s called Blanc de Blue, a CA Sparkling wine…wonder how many brides have thought about bringing a glass of this down the aisle as a "something blue", ha!  I immediately thought this would be adorable for a baby shower (again, thinking other events in addition to weddings).  Of course, mama-to-be would need an alternate non-alcoholic beverage like Dry Soda (an amazing bubbly-like non-alcoholic beverage developed by a mother to be).  Wouldn’t this be perfect for baby shower guests? I had to try it and sadly, it’s doesn’t taste as amazing as it looks and for $35 per bottle I could think of other delicious sparkling wines but a cute idea. 

All in all, super productive weekend, loved seeing my girls and can hardly wait for the upcoming weddings this year, I am officially in the wedding spirit!