The Gang
/Every time I visit the Bay Area, my parents like to ask who I see when I am down there. One of the must see group is "the gang." I don't know if "the gang" actually calls themselves "the gang," but that's what Josh and I call them. They are "the gang." When I talk to my parents, say "the gang" and then feel that maybe they don't know who exactly that is. Doesn't everyone know who "the gang" is? So then I start listing everyone: Melissa, Jeff, Manual, Chris, Jimmy, and some more recent arrivals Tori and Alley. They are "the gang."
That's exactly who Josh and I saw last weekend when we were in the Bay Area. It was the perfect alignment of events. Josh had work in the South Bay. I had the chance to get some face-to-face time with my team in Foster City. Then it was Manuel's Birthday. The perfect timing for a weekend visit. Finally, Josh and me in the Bay Area at the same time. Lately we've been going separately for work. Honestly, it had been somewhere like two years plus (maybe even three - I don't feel like doing the math) since we'd been down there together - as in, when I lived there still. Wait, it must be three years. Wowzaa!
However, we didn't spend all our time down there together. Although we were both in the Bay Area for work, we actually stayed at hotels close to our work...which wasn't nearby each other. He was in Mountain View. I was in Foster City. In our changed perspective, far too much to drive now (thanks Eugene and Seattle - driving for 45 minutes isn't as easy as it once was). So there we were, close but yet so far. Josh was there for the whole week and I was there from Wednesday to Friday and we didn't see each other until Friday night.
Friday night is went all the real fun started though! We started at The Gang's usual hangout these days, The Dutch Goose. It's like a pub type place with hamburgers and such. Oddly with deviled eggs as a speciality. Even though there weren't peanut shells on the floor, I think of it being a peanut shell type place: casual and fun. It was loud but we got to see The Gang and just have a chill out sort of evening. It was also in celebration of The Manual and his birthday extravaganza. The Gang and more were there to have a fun Friday night.
Josh and I ended up Pricelining a hotel and got the Sofitel in Redwood City. (Yes, Pricelinging. Or as we as, we'll "Priceline it"). This is where we crashed Friday night from a full week of work. It was weird staying at a hotel in an area you once lived. Driving by old apartments that were no longer yours.
Saturday morning we went for coffee slash breakfast at Cafe Borronne - a place we heard was tasty. We had some lattes, muffins, and eggs. The coffee was quite tasty considering it wasn't a Seattle place (Just Kidding - I'm not that big of a coffee snob...yet). Then we headed to the old Saturday (or Sunday) morning stopping grounds: Los Gatos. We used to eat breakfast down there and then walk around the stores or the farmer's market. That was went we lived closer to it, so breakfast was closer to the hotel. We did enjoy seeing the cute little Los Gatos. Some stores are still there, and some are gone. The town was still cute as a button though.
While we were on the "visiting old fav spots" mode, we decided to head to Santana Row. Like old times, we walked around the shops yet didn't buy anything. We did enjoy a lunch on the row though. But all that walking tired us out, so we headed to the hotel for a bit of nap.
Saturday night was the real Manual birthday celebration. The gang headed over to Los Altos Grill for some good grub and fun. Yummy food, tasty drinks, and good friends...where can you go wrong?
Afterwards we enjoyed some made-from-scratch birthday cake from Alley - I think she's going professional. In the words of Chris, "did you see this cake? it's ridiculous. It's SO GOOD. Wow, did you see this? Did you see it?
Our last day, Josh and I were tired. Just plain tired. Too much fun. Too long of a work week. Tired. We enjoyed breakfast at another old favorite, Alanas in Burlingame. Then we headed down via the 280 (our favorite hwy) to the South Bay since we were flying out of San Jose Airport (which, by the way, is quite nice now). We didn't know what to do, so we decided to be productive and register some more at the Valley Fair mall. This is still one of the best malls - practically everything is there. I love this mall. Although I love the outdoor-ness of our Seattle University Village mall. Okay, in all truth, I just like shopping.
And that, my friends, was a full filled weekend. Back to the hum-drum of the work week. Sigh.
That's exactly who Josh and I saw last weekend when we were in the Bay Area. It was the perfect alignment of events. Josh had work in the South Bay. I had the chance to get some face-to-face time with my team in Foster City. Then it was Manuel's Birthday. The perfect timing for a weekend visit. Finally, Josh and me in the Bay Area at the same time. Lately we've been going separately for work. Honestly, it had been somewhere like two years plus (maybe even three - I don't feel like doing the math) since we'd been down there together - as in, when I lived there still. Wait, it must be three years. Wowzaa!
However, we didn't spend all our time down there together. Although we were both in the Bay Area for work, we actually stayed at hotels close to our work...which wasn't nearby each other. He was in Mountain View. I was in Foster City. In our changed perspective, far too much to drive now (thanks Eugene and Seattle - driving for 45 minutes isn't as easy as it once was). So there we were, close but yet so far. Josh was there for the whole week and I was there from Wednesday to Friday and we didn't see each other until Friday night.
Friday night is went all the real fun started though! We started at The Gang's usual hangout these days, The Dutch Goose. It's like a pub type place with hamburgers and such. Oddly with deviled eggs as a speciality. Even though there weren't peanut shells on the floor, I think of it being a peanut shell type place: casual and fun. It was loud but we got to see The Gang and just have a chill out sort of evening. It was also in celebration of The Manual and his birthday extravaganza. The Gang and more were there to have a fun Friday night.
Josh and I ended up Pricelining a hotel and got the Sofitel in Redwood City. (Yes, Pricelinging. Or as we as, we'll "Priceline it"). This is where we crashed Friday night from a full week of work. It was weird staying at a hotel in an area you once lived. Driving by old apartments that were no longer yours.
Saturday morning we went for coffee slash breakfast at Cafe Borronne - a place we heard was tasty. We had some lattes, muffins, and eggs. The coffee was quite tasty considering it wasn't a Seattle place (Just Kidding - I'm not that big of a coffee snob...yet). Then we headed to the old Saturday (or Sunday) morning stopping grounds: Los Gatos. We used to eat breakfast down there and then walk around the stores or the farmer's market. That was went we lived closer to it, so breakfast was closer to the hotel. We did enjoy seeing the cute little Los Gatos. Some stores are still there, and some are gone. The town was still cute as a button though.
While we were on the "visiting old fav spots" mode, we decided to head to Santana Row. Like old times, we walked around the shops yet didn't buy anything. We did enjoy a lunch on the row though. But all that walking tired us out, so we headed to the hotel for a bit of nap.
Saturday night was the real Manual birthday celebration. The gang headed over to Los Altos Grill for some good grub and fun. Yummy food, tasty drinks, and good friends...where can you go wrong?
Afterwards we enjoyed some made-from-scratch birthday cake from Alley - I think she's going professional. In the words of Chris, "did you see this cake? it's ridiculous. It's SO GOOD. Wow, did you see this? Did you see it?
Our last day, Josh and I were tired. Just plain tired. Too much fun. Too long of a work week. Tired. We enjoyed breakfast at another old favorite, Alanas in Burlingame. Then we headed down via the 280 (our favorite hwy) to the South Bay since we were flying out of San Jose Airport (which, by the way, is quite nice now). We didn't know what to do, so we decided to be productive and register some more at the Valley Fair mall. This is still one of the best malls - practically everything is there. I love this mall. Although I love the outdoor-ness of our Seattle University Village mall. Okay, in all truth, I just like shopping.
And that, my friends, was a full filled weekend. Back to the hum-drum of the work week. Sigh.
