Before I venture in to details of the weekend, I should say that my exciting work news will sadly be delayed for quite some time. It was definitely disappointing but it’s all good and I have faith it will come through in due time. Celebrations are on-hold for now, though.

My sis arrived Friday afternoon, marking my first true visitor since my move. It was a very exciting day indeed. The forecast was calling for rain all weekend, so you can imagine my excitement when the morning sun hung around just long enough for me to get her home from the airport and see a few spots in my neighborhood. We stopped at Palace of Fine Arts for a bit before heading over to In-n-out for a burger. I told her it was a mandatory dining experience (we almost went back a 2nd time haha). We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out my office and walking along Embarcadero and through South Park until we couldn’t handle the cold/rain anymore. Spent the evening at Spindig, which was just as interesting as expected. She got to meet all my friends so that was all that mattered.

We got up early Saturday, saw glimpses of the sun and bustled around as fast as we could to capitalize on what time we may have. We picked up two hitchhiker’s from Jersey (girls at the bus stop who basically became my BFF when they realized I lived here and could give a real tour). So we walked halfway across Golden Gate (finally found a way to part from the girls…), and headed on down to Golden Gate Park.

It was as new for me as it was for Jenna. I’d only seen a very small fraction of the park. We walked about the Japanese Tea Garden, through the botancial gardens, and past the mile line to the Cali Academy of Science, before heading back to the bus to hit up Haight St for lunch. We dropped in to Amoeba and finally settled on some panini place for lunch, where we ran in to Justin, the first of three co-workers we would encounter. In our hurry to beat the rain, we forgot Ben & Jerry’s. Oh well.

We headed over to Ocean Beach. Sadly, it was my first time seeing the beach over there. I had no idea just how big it was. It was freezing but beautiful. With all the rainfall and winds, there were some pretty crazy waves popping up. We stopped by the windmill for a bit, before setting out on the longest bus ride ever. (We ran in to the Jersey girls again at this stop.) We basically went from Ocean Beach to Fisherman’s Warf (she had requests to buy souvenirs). Well, on the last leg of our trip, a homeless man on the bus lost his pants. When Jenna told me this, I assumed, he was in boxers. Well, when the policeman boarded the bus, put on plastic gloves, and proceeded to pull up the man’s pants, I realized underwear of any sort played no role. My sister got a full frontal show. I promised her that naked people on the bus is not a normal sort of thing.

We decided to eat dinner in, counting on restaurants being busy because of vday. We made crab cakes and rice and picked up a cheesecake for dessert. We ran in to Sallie crossing the street by my place. So random. Anyway, it worked out really well. Gave us time to chill out a little bit before going to the symphony. We were excited about our plans, but both of us were exhausted from all the walking/bus riding. I absolutely loved the show, though. Debussy wasn’t quite my style but the Stravinksy and Rimsky-Korsakov were fantastic. The conductor, Charles Duboit, did not even use a score for the 45-minute Scheherazade. All the people around us were murmuring about it. Jenna also loved it, despite nearing sleep several times from the jet lag. I was on the edge of my seat, studying the soloists, noting the formalities, and thinking that I’ve never given Rimsky-Korsakov enough credit. I really only knew Flight of the Bumblebee prior. The sound was so full and lush, and the violin solos made me want to cry a little. It was just so amazing. (Watch all 5 movements of the Moscow Symphony. Incredible.) It’s starting to become official that my concert budget will be traded for opera & symphony season tickets.

Sunday cut us no breaks on the weather. We never got so much as a glimpse of the sun. Rain, rain, rain all day. We packed some lunches and set out to north bay. I took her by my favorite view in Petaluma, where at least it stopped raining long enough to get some photos. Then we set off to August Briggs winery in Calistoga. It was my first ever wine-tasting. I would have died perfectly content having missed out, but my sister really wanted to buy some wine. I hate wine. I’ve tried sweet and dry and fruity and whatever and I just can’t get behind it. Odds are that I’m going to die alone for not loving sushi & wine, but so be it. I may like it in 20 years or I may not. Either way, oh well. I picked this winery only because Kali had mentioned it was really casual with complimentary tastings. Sounded more our speed. Jenna got a chardonnay, which was actually the least repulsive of the ones we sampled. The guy pouring was the son of the founder, and he was friendly and not at all pretentious. I totally vote for stopping by their place.

It was not at all a pretty day for a drive, but I took us down and around San Pablo bay for the trip home, so we could at least take in some different scenes. Jenna allegedly got some cool photos out my raindrop-covered sunroof as we crossed back of Golden Gate. Apparently the toll went up to $6. That was a surprise. It was nice to be out of the rain and still get to show off some of the California countryside. I love my car so much. I’m really glad I didn’t sell it. In fact, I got a phone call from my dealer today wishing me an early happy birthday, this after my 1-year anniversary letter from him in December. Love it.

Anyway, Jenna wanted fresh seafood and I wanted to eat somewhere close to home, so we compromised with Pacific Catch on Chestnut. She was a little hesitant about the asian fusion, but I thought it was great. We both got the catch of the day fish & chips, lightly battered true cod and sweet potato fries. I loved it. They had this sweet/spicy sauce for the fish and the fries were really tasty. I’d been wanting to try sweet potato fries for a long time. I was told they’re really hard to bake up just right. It was good and really fast. The place is definitely small & cozy, but I’ll keep them in mind when I want something yum to-go. Jenna definitely appreciated that it was a break from what she’s used to, but it was so new that she couldn’t decide if she liked it :) I didn’t realize what different tastes I’d acquired already by living here.

We wrapped up the night with WALL-E and Desperate Housewives. I loved the movie. The little cleaning bot, Moe, was my favorite. It made me want to get another dog, along with all the sightings of ridiculously cute little dogs I keep walking by. Tyler seems convinced I could hide it from my landlord. I’m less worried about that and more worried about how it would impact my life. It’ll be a big decision, but I do really, really miss having a dog. We’ll see what the next year brings.

I dropped my sister off this morning, and she got to fly a double-decker 747 to Chicago. Apparently a bunch of seagulls got wiped out by a plane earlier in the day, leaving all 160 passengers stranded, so they had to double up my sister’s flight. She said it was awesome.

Photos on Flickr

It’s a little weird. Even when Jenna and I lived in the same state, we didn’t hang out that much, except for some weekend visit’s here & there. So her weekend visit felt a little surreal, like I could just go drive and pick her up anytime. She says she’ll be back soon (when there’s no chance it will rain ;), so hopefully that’s the case. It was really cool to get to show someone my new life. And of course, having someone to discuss the symphony with was a perk. Even though the weather sucked, we had a really good time and it was great to get to celebrate our birthdays together like old times.

I’m hoping tomorrow isn’t too crazy, but I’ve already been warned it might be. For that reason, I’ve told myself that I’ve already had a good birthday so if tomorrow goes horribly, it won’t be all that upsetting :)