Patrick's Visit!

After getting multiple "LAZY!!!!" comments and disappointed text messages from Patrick about me not updating my blog to about the "life changing week he visited" I am FINALLY getting my ducks in a row and posting oodles of pictures from his visit!

We spent the first few days in San Francisco! The first night in we went for drinks at the Cliffhouse which overlooks the ocean and has AMAZING sunset views. Patrick found a friend there...

Then my worlds collided when Patrick met Nibbles! Nora was a wonderful hostess for dinner, drinks, and an overnight at her apartment.

So good of a hostess, in fact, that she managed to find a bar (the oink oink wheeeeeeeee) with sumo wrestlers so now Patrick thinks this is a normal SF occurrence.

Of course Patrick and I started the next day reading at a coffee shop for a few hours before heading over to the Golden Gate Bridge. The WHOLE time leading up to the trip Patrick had this vision of exactly what his Golden Gate picture would be. Facebook profile worthy, perhaps. But we got there and alas... SF fog strikes again...

Bah. He still KINDA got one in!

What you can't tell about this picture is we are at Pier 39 in front of the smelly sea lions. What you CAN tell about this picture is that my arm looks awesome.

Patrick Kelly! Welcome to the mothership!

His and Hers Happy Hour Twofers!

Alas I have left out all of our Napa wine tasting pics. No great ones to share - but we had a gorgeous Napa day with my dad. Took Patrick mostly around the Silverado Trail - to Luna, Stagg's Leap, and Silverado. Also had DELICIOUS "California" sandwiches at Oakville. That night we went out to dinner with my sister's family at the club and then headed up to Tahoe for a few days!

Patrick + Carrie + Tahoe = Perfection. For me, Tahoe is coffee drinking and reading all morning, maybe doing a long work out in the afternoon, and either making or going out for dinner and watching tv by the fire at night. Extremely slow paced, quiet, and productive. No one understands coffee and reading time like Patrick. And now, no one understands coffee and reading and Tahoe time like Patrick :)

Ok, ok... perfection in Tahoe also includes wine or beer at Sunnyside...

Patrick stuck around long enough to celebrate my birthday! I'm not a big blow out birthday kind of person at all, but I seriously had one of the best days this year. We started by picking out a hike to do up off Skyline Drive in the Oakland hills through a redwood grove. SO pretty and just a great day for a hike...

Oh hey.

Dad set us up for massages after the hike which were AMAZING of course. Both of us passed out I'm pretty sure. Then we raced back to the house for my birthday BBQ. Such a fun, silly bunch - longtime family friends, Kev and Rach, Patrick, Geo and Ingrid, the Wassells, Meg... I'm so glad Patrick was there to meet everyone since I have been able to meet so many equivalent figures in his life in Madison.

THIS picture makes me laugh to no end. You go Hannah!

Worlds colliding again!

Aww Meg you look so cute in this pic. You too Patrick, you too.

Ok - haha - I KNOW Patrick is going to cut me for including this picture but I could NOT resist. I guess this explains why you and Meg were just a notch above the rest by the end of the night, eh?

Ending on a cute note... AWW! We are SO cute! We do the best self-takers (well... Patrick does the best self-takers but I help by looking cute and angling my head just so). I think it's fair to say there are few people you actually can spend 10 days with and not want to kill yourself at some point before they leave. Perhaps even rarer would be someone you want to spend 10 days with and put in a bunch of different environments with different people and know they can be so versatile and flexible and wonderful with everything. But that's my Patrick :)