today was an action-packed, not to mention snack-packed, day full of samshrew birthday fun. first off samshrew, chris, and sushi dog picked randall and i up for a jaunt across the bay. the east bay spca is putting on these special events all summer long, and today was a free kayaking with your puppins day. randall and i sadly don't have a puppins, so we paid our dues and rented a kayak.
afterwards (and before) we gorged on tasty treats from the jack london farmer's market (the fish tacos there = awesome). and then we headed back to the city where chris picked up a cake from his pals at Sugar Beat Sweets. we got stuck in a little bit of pride traffic (fun fact, i witnessed a cop break up a fight, and then take down a dude who wouldn't cooperate -- come on, he took a swing at the cop!), but eventually ended up at samshrew & chris's house.
we had many hours to kill (dinner reservations weren't until 8), so we snacked, played a round of life -- randall won, also it's pretty different to the version i had when i was growing up -- drank wine, and ate birthday cake. for the record, it was a vegan cake, was vanilla with strawberry, and even randall -- who is skeptical of anything vegan and normally only eats chocolate cake -- asked for a full slice. translation: it was tasty.
finally, after goofing about for a while more, we hopped into the car, miraculously found parking in the castro on pride weekend, and headed to frances for dinner. folks, i made these reservations weeks (maybe months) ago. it is the hot new must-eat at place in the city and after eating there, i can totally see why. the food was delicious, the service friendly and on top of it, and they even seated us 15 minutes early. plus, they knew it was samshrew's birthday, so they brought us out the most fantastic housemade salted chocolate cookies with humphry slocombe ice cream sandwiches in the end. oh and did i mention? they serve the house wine by the ounce. they bring a small pitcher that has ounce markings on the side, and they only charge you for what you drink. simply amazing. i can't wait to go back.
happy birthday samshrew!
