My brother Greg and his girlfriend were in town this weekend, and of course I had a blast.
Thursday night
They were staying in San Francisco part of the time and with me in Oakland part of the time. Their first night I met up with them for drinks and dinner in the Mission.
I was late but still got there in time for one drink. Greg’s girlfriend was so cute. When she saw me, she said, “Yay, my favorite!” and gave me a big hug.
For dinner we went to Delfina. SO GOOD. We had a salad and calamari for appetizers, and I had the duck pappardelle. For dessert my brother’s girlfriend got the panna cotta, which we also shared.
The weekend
Saturday was our aunt’s 80th birthday down in San Jose. It was at the same restaurant as my uncle’s party but a smaller affair since my aunt wanted something more low-key. The food, as always, was good. Only downside was that I didn’t get to sit with my brother and his girlfriend, whom, by the way, all of our relatives immediately adored.
On Sunday we hung out around Oakland. Greg’s girlfriend loves farm animals so I was hoping the grazing goats and sheep would be around. And they were! We got up close and personal:
For brunch we went to Rockridge Cafe. Yummy eggs! Then we headed out to the Mountain View Cemetery, which I had no idea was so close to where I live. The place is beautiful and enormous. I loved some of the statues:
The cemetery is the burial place of some notable people, including Samuel Merritt, a mayor of Oakland and the namesake of Lake Merritt; J. A. Folger, the founder of Folger’s Coffee; Domingo Ghirardelli, the founder of Ghirardelli chocolates; Joe Shoong, the founder of the National Dollar Store chain; and, creepily, Elizabeth Short, otherwise known as Black Dahlia.
I was sad to see my brother and his girlfriend go, but I was glad they were able to visit me before I move back to the east coast.