Northern California Adventure

Last week I went to Northern California for a variety of reasons:
1. My cousin's wedding! My cousin Lana got married in Columbia and the timing worked out so I could attend. It was an amazingly fun wedding and beautiful. They got married outside at the Columbia Airport Clubhouse (they met at the airport when Lana was in pilot training). We had a smaller than usual showing of our side of the family (as the wedding was organized quickly and out of Texas), but I loved seeing aunts, uncles and cousins - and their kids! Congrats to Lana and Will - and welcome to the family, Will!

2. One of my closest friends from Raleigh moved to Modesto last summer. Eric was my neighbor and it was easy to grab dinner or a drink or just hang out with him on a regular basis. I really missed him when he moved - but caught up with him in Dallas around Christmas. I'd been hearing about his job, friends and new place in Modesto and it was a great chance to check it out.

3. Somehow, it worked out that this is when one of my favorites, L, was also in Northern California. Background: L quit her job and began traveling across the US in Jan, staying with friends in various cities (she was actually planning to stay with Eric whether or not I was there). I can't express how excited I was to be a part of L's cross-country adventure. L pretty much left Dallas right before I moved here - it was so great to see her.

My adventures...

Wednesday night:
Arrived in Sacramento close to midnight - L picked me up and we went to this hip restaurant/bar, Ink, to grab a drink and food. We stayed at a hotel in Sacramento.

Thursday:
SLEPT IN - and it was AMAZING - both L and I needed it. Then we went for a quick run along the American River Trail (I conveniently picked a hotel on a running trail), through Old Sacramento and even through a tunnel that led to a shopping mall downtown. We used Yelp to find a great local lunch place - Magpie - SO good), then walked to a coffee shop. On our way to Modesto, we stopped at Delicato Tasting Room for some wine (and to make friends). Once we made it to Eric's house, we headed to meet his friends at a local English pub. His friends are awesome - he has a great group that he hangs out with and they were all really welcoming and fun.

Friday:
Went to the store for supplies and made cookies (I make incredible oatmeal chocolate chip cookies) for Eric...and us. L and I were up for some drinking so we headed to downtown Lodi to explore wineries. We made it to Jeremy's, Dancing Fox (picked up some fresh bread and dipping vinaigrette here), Cheese Central, Cellar Door and Grand Amis. Everywhere we went we made friends - we had fun chatting with strangers...who even told us to ditch Eric and stay with them. We made it back to Modesto to have some of our purchased deliciousness and went to a pool hall to meet Eric's friends for a night of competitive games.

Saturday:
Wedding day! Drove up to Columbia in the morning (the wedding was at noon) to see everyone. As I mentioned above - it was a beautiful outdoor wedding. I just love reasons to celebrate with friends and family. After the wedding, which I made L join for 20min (she hated me) and successfully avoiding catching the bouquet, we headed back to Eric's. In preparation for having all of his friends over, we played an intense game of scrabble to sharpen our brains before drinking games. It was another entertaining night with a group of fun people.

Sunday:
Went to a delicious local diner for breakfast, met a midget cat, then hit the road for the Sacramento airport. My flight back included a medical emergency landing in Vegas, but otherwise was uneventful (at least our plane didn't turn into a convertible).

It was a perfect long weekend - I was so happy the timing worked out for me to see everyone. Thanks to L who was my chauffeur the entire time. Thanks to Eric for being a wonderful host and entertaining us.

Here are the photos - most of them are of L and I at wineries...

Dallas: Week 1, so far a success

I've been here a week now. Here's a quick recap:

• Delicious food - I've had Mexican food 3 times (I love having good Mexican food places everywhere), dad's chili as my first meal back, steak and of course, Whataburger.
• Work - Everything is going really well, jumping into projects. I'm working with some really great people. I look forward to the challenges and the travel (SXSW in Austin and a tradeshow in Orlando - both in March).
• Place to live - I've been commuting from my parents house, which is about 28mi from work - but it takes an 1 - 1.25 hours which is really annoying (especially if I work long hours). I found an awesome place to live, walking distance to work and a lot of restaurants and bars. Plus one of my favorites lives here (with her dog, which I plan on kidnapping frequently). The place is about half the size of my townhome in Raleigh, so we'll see how I adjust. Now I just need to get my Pod delivered, hire movers, unpack and buy new furniture.
• Welcome back night out - I have some great friends in Dallas and we got together for dinner and a fun night out. My tolerance is definitely not what it used to be. Photo highlights below.

Austin asked for someone to grab a branch. Mike grabbed this tree:













Some of my favorite ladies - Taylor and Tracy:











Some of my favorite guys - Austin, Mike and Jake:

Only in Texas

I'm back in Texas for the holidays - a few highlights so far:

• Leaving on a flight 12 hours later and getting a $500 travel voucher from American Airlines - the joys of being flexible
  
• Boy and goat in the bed of a truck on a highway on Christmas eve
  
• Drive through beer/liquor barns
• My dad's Christmas gift to my mom: a 22 (rifle)
• Shiner - my parents went to Shiner, TX earlier this year (where Shiner, my fav beer, is brewed) and got gifts for everyone - t-shirts, hats, visors
• Mexican food for 2 meals so far - delicious
• Brisket - my dad made 20lbs of brisket - LOVE this
• Geckos in the house - my parents love geckos - the other night they saw one by a potted plant outside, grabbed the little gecko and brought him INSIDE so he wouldn't freeze overnight - who does that?! (this is their normal house out in Fort Worth, not the ranch)
• Plus seeing some of my wonderful friends (and Neighbor) in Dallas - I really have missed these guys

If anyone ever gets me a rifle for Christmas...wow, I don't even know how I would react.

And here's some of that brisket:

















More to come as my trip continues for another week!