I’m back! Here are the details of my weekend up north.

Friday
Sara picked me up at the San Jose airport in the afternoon then we headed to lunch at her office (she works for Google). I am so jealous and want to work for a progressive company like that. They have an enormous cafeteria that reminded me a lot of a mall food court, laundry facilities, massages, a gym, toilet seats with warmers, foosball, and anything else you can possibly imagine. And it’s all free.

After checking out the office, we went back to the house in Palo Alto (Sara’s living there while she’s helping take care of her grandma) and changed clothes and met met up with Joe and Brad, two other Googlers (yes, that’s what they call them) and went into the city. We grabbed a quick bite then saw a BATS Improv show. It was fun, but not nearly as good as the improv down here. It should also be noted that I think Sara and I annoyed Joe and Brad to no end, because we had a lot of catching up to do and suddenly reverted back to being silly girlfriends. It was fun.

Saturday
Sara and I slept in then drove past my aunt and uncle’s old house in Palo Alto. So many memories came flooding back, and I could very clearly picture certain rooms in the house. When I was a kid, I would fly out there to spend weekends with my aunt and uncle, and my aunt and I would go into the city and shop and eat and paint each others nails. Ahh, good times.

Sara and I then went back into San Francisco, this time to be tourists. We had lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf (shrimp and chips for me, clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl for her), and basked in the sun. The weather was absolutely perfect–around 75 and sunny, not a cloud in the sky! After stuffing ourselves with lunch, we walked over to where else–Ghirardelli–for some chocolate. And since there happened to be a cupcake bakery right next door, we grabbed a cupcake too. Of course, our bellies were too full, so I ended up walking around with the cupcake for a while. Or at least until…

We were tired and hot and wanted to relax, so we took an hour long cruise around the bay. (Yes, we are suckers.) It was really pretty, we had great views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge, and we had a chance to re-energize, and of course, eat the cupcake (which by the way, was just eh.)

On our way out of the city, we got a little lost (I think we passed the same dog park about five times) and ended up passing Lombard Street so I convinced Sara to drive down it. It was quite amusing watching her drive, and we laughed all the way down. Once we got home, we relaxed for a bit and freshened up then went out for sushi. By the end of dinner, we were both exhausted so we went home and and sat up watching TV and chatting until our eyes began closing.

Sunday
We met up with Joe for breakfast, then she and I went into Palo Alto do some shopping. I bought a super cute INC coat (that is not 100% wool so it won’t itch!) and Sara bought a dress for a work party. We then went to a different area and did some window shopping and had a late lunch. Ready to collapse, we went back home, packed up my stuff, and then were off to the airport.

The best part of the weekend was catching up and reconnecting with Sara. We’ve known each other since we were 16, and even though we haven’t seen each other in almost a year, it felt as if we talk every day. There’s something to be said for high school friendships. I hope that the next time I go up there Julie will come too, because I would love for the three of us to hang out together again.

More pictures here, but as usual, pictures of people are viewable only by Flickr Friends & Family. Let me know if you want to be added.