I honestly don’t know how some people do it. How they are able to eat out more than once or twice a week. Sure, we all love to eat from somewhere like SOFIA RESTAURANT every now and again, but I cannot make eating out such a regular occurrence. When I come home from vacation, the first thing I crave is a home-cooked meal and the absolute last thing I want for a week or two is to go out to eat. I know of people who dine in restaurants, carry out, or have delivery more than 7 or 8 times a week. 

That said, the three restaurants we dined at in San Francisco were amazing! But I did say “San Francisco”, so what else would you expect… but amazing? I am no restaurant critic. I don’t critique the decor, the location, or even the wait staff. I just know if I am “comfortable” in a space, I’m with people I want to be with, and if I have delicious food – well, then I‘m happy and I’ve had a good dining experience. 

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As I mentioned yesterday, the final couple hours of the road trip were the most challenging. The endless lines of traffic getting onto the Bay Bridge was brutal, especially when you don’t have the “lane changing” abilities you’re used to, while you are in a U-Haul and pulling a trailer. I’m just thankful that I was the passenger and not the driver. Dave has abounding patience and I have… none!

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Our journey to deliver Marissa’s belongings to San Francisco began around noon on Friday, July 29th, and ended when we finally arrived at her new home on Saturday, July 30th around 4:30 PM.

Most of our 14 hours of drive-time were spent on either I-10 between Phoenix and Los Angeles or on the I-5 between LA and San Francisco. The remaining couple hours were spent on the slow crawl to get onto and then across the Bay Bridge; at least it felt like 2 hours!

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Last day of July! Hard to believe, that summer is almost over, at least in most of America. In Arizona, it will last another 2 1/2 months, but here in San Francisco, it feels like autumn. Heaven!  Here is Marissa on the beach, which is less than a mile from her new home. Yes, she is in her new HOME! So exciting, and it is so cute and big!

Oh, and if you want to watch the Train video “Save Me, San Francisco” CLICK HERE

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It’s been 5 weeks and 1 day since I put my 23-year-old daughter on a plane to San Francisco to begin a new job in a new city, without a place to live. What a wonderful and caring mother I am! She has been homeless ever since. OK, not living on the street-homeless, thank God! But sleeping on a friend’s couch for what will end up being 6-weeks-homeless. I also thank God for her very good and kind friend, Amanda, whose couch she sleeps on! xoxo Amanda, can’t wait to meet you.

And I will meet Amanda next weekend when Dave and I pull up in the rented U-Haul, pulling Marissa’s VW bug behind, to her new home. Marissa, Amanda, and a new friend, Jessica, found a place to live together. This was the plan all along; it’s just taken all this time to find the place and wait for it to be ready. Sleeping on a couch for 6 weeks, wasn’t part of the original plan, but I’m forever grateful that it was an option.

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Today is Phase 2 of Marissa moving away from me! Don’t get me wrong, I am so happy for her, so thrilled for this new and exciting chapter in her life!  This is what you wish for; for your children to be independent, on their own, living their lives, chasing their dreams! But I’m going to miss her! She is a perfect daughter and a gorgeous, caring, smart, and amazing woman and I am proud.  I shall be putting her on a plane to San Francisco today at 3:30.  When she arrives there, she has a place to stay for the next three nights, and then… not 100% sure. On Sunday she has an appointment to go see an apartment that hopefully (more like praying to God!) she will be able to sublease, beginning on the forth day.  If that doesn’t go through, oh I can’t even begin to think about that! And on Monday morning, she starts her new job.

When I get home from the airport I think I’ll just get on the internet and start planning my trip to visit her, to see her in her new wonderful home by the bay.  Either that or sit down and have a good cry!  Honestly, I am so excited. I am so very proud. And mostly, I am exceedingly blessed! Blessed and honored to be her mom.  Marissa, I love you!

I promised you a recipe today and a great recipe you shall get … not only am I a proud mom, I am also a carnivore.  I am not a vegetarian, vegan, raw vegan, or any other such noble person.  I am more of a Big Night,  Like Water For Chocolate, Babette’s Feast, or Mostly Martha sort of movie girl rather than a Food, Inc., Fast Food Nation, Forks Over Knives, or Earthlings movie girl.  I like to live with my head buried deeply in the carnivore sand.

That said, I don’t think I’ll ever make beef, chicken, or pork taco again!  Obviously, not because I have anything against beef, chicken, or pork… but because these red lentil tacos are so much better.  Really they are!  If you make them and you don’t agree, I’ll give you your money back.  Honestly, every penny you’ve ever spent coming to my free blog, I shall refund to you, in full, if you don’t think these are the best tacos ever!!!  Now that’s a money-back guarantee if ever there was one. xoxo

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I’ve had this cute little picture on my desktop, copied from somewhere that now I can’t recall, for months and have been waiting for a time to slap it into a post. Today is just the day because I have no time to put up anything other than an explanation of why I’m not putting up anything. It is 5:35 AM and we (Dave, Marissa, my dad, and I) are heading off to Marissa’s storage unit to empty it and put all her furniture in our garage. Hopefully, it’ll only be there for a month or so, just until she can find a permanent place to live in her new home… San Francisco! 

Of course, we could’ve just decided to keep everything in the storage unit, as we have never had a problem with them before. But since we don’t know when she’ll actually be leaving, I think it’s better for us that we store it in our garage, as it will be much less hassle in the long run.

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Marissa gave me two valuable gifts for Mother’s Day last month. The first, is she guest blogging for me for two days, which you’ve already seen.  The second, a mother/daughter night out, I cashed in on last night. It became urgent to spend my gift ASAP because we just learned, the day before, that Marissa received a long sought-after internship at San Francisco Magazine.

Ironically she already has a 10-day trip for the wedding of one of her college roommates to San Francisco planned, she leaves for that today. Then she’ll be home for only 6 days before she needs to go back and report for her new position! It is a whirlwind (actually more like a tornado) around here now!

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Dave and I just returned from a long weekend in the wine country of Sonoma, California. I can’t wait to tell you about all the fabulous food we ate and wonderful wineries we visited.  But before I can even think about that, I have to share with you an absolute gem that we stumbled upon on our arrival night in San Francisco – Gitane Restaurant & Bar. You absolutely have to go the next time you are anywhere near Union Square! I am in love with this place and now my mission in life is to recreate the dishes we had there!

“Gitane” means gypsy woman in French. Additionally, Gitane is the name of a French bicycle manufacturer and also a brand of French cigarettes. This place is exotic and ultra-sexy, exactly what you might expect from a gorgeous romanticized gypsy image. It is hidden away on Claude Lane, an almost alley-like, side street between Sutter and Bush in one direction and between Grant and Kearney in the other.

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