Headed to Seattle!

Posted by Lauren

**wrote on plane, compiled on light rail; please excuse typos and any other oddities**

Yesterday was an early day for me, with a 7 mile run around Mountain View. I looped from work to downtown to my new house and then back to work. While I do not officially move until mid-July, I want to scope out the neighborhood to see what’s what. Where do I get my groceries? Is there a track nearby? (haven’t found one yet :( sad) What about yoga/dance/pilates studios? Etc.

After work we had yet another team dinner at Reposado in Palo Alto.

Their food is great, but I hope we go somewhere new next time! #1stworldproblems I know. The invite went to our extended group, so the organizer decided on a pre fixe menu for simplicity’s sake. Works for me!

Appetizers (I ate) included house-made guacamole and chips, a small bite of the queso fundido, and a handful of calamari < < my favorite.

Before the family style plates arrived, we each had a salad. The honey lime dressing was somewhat addicting – I actually ate the tomatoes because of it. Also – cornbread croutons? Genius.

And the main event…

The boxes are arranged in a mekko chart – the larger the box, the more I enjoyed the plate :) The boneless beef short rib was the best, second place goes to the vegetarian guerro chili rellenos (the filling was just meh), and the chicken just didn’t stand out.

You know what did stand out? Dessert!!

Sweet corn cheesecake with a vanilla brûlée top, and raspberry sauce… Just perfect. The cheesecake was light and balanced – sweet corn sounded unusual but it tasted phenomenal. By dessert time I think everyone was full, so their 1/2 eaten cheesecakes made me cry a little on the inside. Good thing my affinity for sugar (I will not say addiction #denial) always leaves room for dessert :)

Speaking of dessert…. During the day I received a pre-birthday surprise from my Guy. He stopped by at work with the perfect birthday card, a pack of Reese’s peanut butter cups, and a mini bundt cake from Specialty’s:

Orange poppyseed :) I love the star-shaped candle!

When I arrived home from Reposado, I cleaned and packed for my trip to Seattle. In case I didn’t mention it, I am running the Rock n’ Roll Seattle half marathon this weekend. #RnRSEA!! My mom graciously bought me a plane ticket as my birthday present, Katie and Doug signed up to run with me, and Krizia decided to make the trip up as well!

FYI As I turn 25 on Saturday, I will join a more competitive age group. Queue the waterworks!

Just kidding. No, I’m not. Yes, I am. I don’t know……. This just means I’ll have to, uh, train someday? Hmm.

My mom, Nicole, and David dropped me off at the airport this morning at 5:30 and drove off… BUT THEN! As I printed my boarding pass I saw their names on the kiosk screen. Commence confusion.

I shrugged it off – must just be a last name look up kinda thing? Then wouldn’t you know who walked up to the gate right as boarding began? My mom, Nicole, and David!

Surprise! I can’t believe they kept this a secret for 4 months and I’m so excited to run the race with all my friends and family on my quarter century birthdayyyy!!!

ps. these cinnamon sugar pretzels are really good; thanks Alaska Airlines

-Lauren