Tag Archives: campbell

Lady of Leisure (That’s How I Roll)

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Today I cleared my schedule for 2 hours to be a lady of leisure and meet Susie for a midweek lunch date. It was so nice to catch up and chat just 1-on-1 after having to cancel on her twice in a row (the first time to get my walking cast and the second because I was ill) and then ‘share’ her at her birthday party.

{Susie and me at her birthday party in mid January.}

I don’t know what took so long, but I finally today introduced Susie to Michi Sushi, my absolute favorite sushi place in the Bay. The reason it doesn’t get a lot of posting action here is mainly because it’s quite pricey and therefore I don’t frequent it as often as I’d like. Rolls are generally $20 – $25 per 6 – 8 pieces. I saw one of there for $35. Steep, absolutely. However, the quality, freshness, flavor, and service make it worth the splurge every now and again. It especially helps to go with a group so you can try more, as one roll is usually more than enough for one person. Proof? When Susie and I each ordered a salad and a roll, our server asked if we were really hungry, and kindly suggested we start with only one roll and two salads. Such good advice! I think next time we could even get by with just one salad and one roll between the two of us… I know it doesn’t sound like much, but as evidenced in this blog, we can both really pack it away so believe when I say we were stuffed. Ooh, and the portions help justify the cost, too.

Here’s an example of their menu. Check out those crazy names (and prices)! :P

(Source)

And here’s what we had, two salads and the Alex Smith on Fire Roll:

The salads were wonderful as was the roll. Next time, tho, I think I’ll try one with less tempura crunchies… Only because I love them so much and ended up eating so many of them! By the way, the salads were $14 each and the roll $23, so lunch came to $33 each with tip.

When the Cat’s Away…

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Yup, I was bachelorette-in’ it this weekend! Bright and early Saturday morning, Shrek set off for a camping/shooting/boar hunting expedition with the boys. Left to my own devices, I got in a 3 mile run and trip to the gym; stocked up on fruit, cheese, meats, and greens at Trader Joes; and before I knew it Emily and Sarah were picking me up for wine tasting!

First up, we checked into a little boutique winery in Campbell called Travieso.

It was more than off the beaten path. Even with our eyes peeled, we had trouble finding it and I’m so disappointed it wasn’t worth the effort. I had high hopes when I found it on Yelp and even when I saw it in person that I’d stumbled upon a hidden gem (only 7 reviews on Yelp so far!), but it was not to be. It’s in a sad location in an older industrial area of Campbell and the wine didn’t blow my skirt up. $5 got us tastes of 3 wines. (Just for comparison, $5 will get you tastes of 16 wines at Guglielmo in Morgan Hill and I much prefer their wine — and location!) The guy pouring at Travieso was so nice and friendly and said we could have seconds of anything we tasted, but no one bit… which says a lot. The experience wasn’t a complete loss though. I absolutely adore the gorgeous, artsy wine bottle labels! Sarah found a birthday gift for her friend in the form of a cool bottle of vino with a cowboy label on it. (The guy pouring said if she didn’t like it to bring it back for a full refund since we couldn’t sample it beforehand.) We also had the entire tasting room to ourselves which was charming and almost necessary since it’s about the size of a large closet. However, I don’t see myself going back anytime soon.

Next we found ourselves back at Testarossa for Sarah to pick up her wine club shipment. I guess they release shipments every 1-2 months which is a lovely excuse to do a (free!) tasting :)  

Their wines are growing more and more on me with each visit and I look forward to going each time. Just a week ago I met Sonja and Susie at the winery for lunch and paid $10 for a tasting knowing full well I’d be back with Sarah within the week — that’s how great their wine is!

After purchasing a bottle to enjoy later, we headed over to Enoteca La Storia, my favorite South Bay wine bar. We parked ourselves at a table and made a leisurely late lunch of a bottle of vino, a Piccolo cheese and meats board and caprese salad.

Good food, good wine, good friends — couldn’t have asked for a better Saturday! Only it did get better — sushi at Mizu was on the agenda for dinner!

The girls dropped me off at home by 9 and I think I was asleep by something silly like 930… That’s earlier than I got to bed during the week! What a wild child, huh?

Sunday I had to work… My proposal I was working on when I accidentally flooded my laptop got picked up which means lots of overtime for me! Managed to take a little break in the afternoon to see sneak out and see The Help with a few girlfriends. It gets only one thumb up from me, but I think it’s because I read and LOVED the book so the bar is set especially high. I thought the movie moved particularly slowly and the acting was mediocre except for the actor who played Minny; she totally nailed her part and livened up the screen! Anyone else out there see the movie this weekend and agree or disagree with me?

Bowled Over

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Kicked off Day 1 of my 5-day New Year vacation with a much needed 1.5 hour gym session. Sunday I strained my calf doing weighted lunges so badly that I couldn’t walk on it properly so I immediately took a few days off. Still not back to running but I can plant myself on the upright bike and elliptical and catch a few Bravo shows.

After a shower, brunch at home, and a successful shopping trek for Shrek, we decided to redeem the certificates I’d received for a few free games and shoe rentals at 300 San Jose. It’s our local swanky bowling alley/lounge/bar and it’s always a good time! See, I recently discovered that I kick ass don’t suck at bowling. I scored 100+ 3 out of 3 games with a respectable number of strikes and spares in each. High five!

Like how I subconsciously matched my outfit to the bowling shoes and bowling ball?

Also, 300′s Holiday Champagne Punch? Chambord + punch flavored vodka + simple syrup + champagne = sooo smooth and not too sweet… just the way I like my cocktails! Which makes them a little dangerous. The only times I can recount being super drunk this past year have been while hurling a ball towards inanimate objects at the end of an alley or on a grassy knoll. I’ve shared my theory on bocce and drinking, right? Well, it applies to bowling, too, since I like to win! ;)

Immediately following we grabbed some locally crafted brews (and a pretzel the size of my face!) at Rock Bottom Brewery in Campbell and some light bites at Tee Nee Thai in San Jose.

The really big find of the night? Rock Bottom Brewery’s Hump Day Happy Hour = happy hour prices ALL DAY in the bar! $3.25 beers/$5 well drinks/$5 appetizers. They also sell “growlers” of their awesome brewed-on-site beer.  64 fl.oz. for $9.99! Refill empty growlers for just $5! I don’t usually like beer but I liked theirs and recommend the Stillwater Stout. Espresso-like but with 6.5% alcohol and a healthy dose of caffeine. Shrek has already announced that we will be spending A LOT more time there.