A Night Out

This past Saturday night my sister-in-law and her fiance took all three of the Candy Cane Kids to Chuck E. Cheese.  God bless her.   They had a great time and came back with sparkly bracelets, temporary tattoos and probably some germs since Gloppy the Chocolate Monster has had a runny nose and watery eyes since Sunday.

Mr. Mint and I enjoyed an evening in San Francisco.  We belong to a cooking club that consists of four couples.  Essentially we get together about 4-5 times a year for a potluck type meal at someone's home.  There is usually a theme (i.e., Italian, summer, Thanksgiving) and everyone cooks something that fits into the theme.   We've been getting together with this particular group of people for a little over six years.   When we started, Mr. Mint and I were newly married and the group was a mix of single people, dating couples and married couples.  Over the years it has dwindled to a core group of four couples.  At the beginning, we all lived in San Francisco and one couple had one child.  Today, only one person still lives in San Francisco and there are nine kids between us and one more on the way (not from me!!).

J&M hosted this time at J's house in the city and the theme was Greek.  They are a very well traveled couple who always a story to tell about there latest adventure.  M is a wine enthusiast and always brings some unique bottle to share.  We had this oh so yummy dessert wine the other night courtesy of M.

K&C brought a luscious lemon meringue pie and tasty Greek salad.  They are far and away the dessert experts of the group.   Mr. Mint and I still talk about their bananas foster.  K is a lawyer and C is a graphic artist.  They live in the burbs and have two adorable daughters and one more on the way.  They're a warm and happy couple and I always enjoy spending an evening with them.

R&J couldn't make it on Saturday.   They have four kids, three girls followed by a little baby boy.  They recently remodeled a beautiful house in the suburbs.  R has great taste and her home always feel welcoming.  R&J bring a lot of humor and we feel lucky to be friends with them.  

Whenever we all get together, there is always great food and a few bottles of great wine.  We've shared book recommendations, travel recommendations, nanny tips, remodeling and construction tips, tales of dysfunctional families, stock tips...  you name it.  But mostly we share laughter and friendships that have grown over the past six years.   It's always a great way to spend an evening out.

After we wrapped up our dinner, it was still on the early side and we didn't have to pick up the Candy Cane Kids until the next morning.  So Mr. Mint and I decided to stop by our old neighborhood to one of our favorite restaurants for a glass of wine before we headed home.   I had the "Taste of Italy" wine flight.

The empty glass on the right was a yummy Prosecco that I wasted no time in enjoying.  It was past 10pm when we left the restaurant and it was still quite packed.  Maybe it was all the wine, but being in our old neighborhood in a buzzing restaurant at 10pm made me physically miss living in San Francisco.   I wonder if I'll ever be able to drive through Noe Valley and not feel sentimental and a little bit sad.