The most amazing part of our second evening spent with Sir Paul was how serendipitous it was. Zack and I didn’t have tickets to the show, since we didn’t know Zack would even be able to go until a week out. I had a ticket to the Thursday night show with my dad, so I was content to attend just one Austin MACCA performance. However, when Zack was suddenly free* and I had no after-work plans, it was decided. We took $100 in small bills, parked our car right around the listed showtime, and sauntered down the street toward The Erwin Center. We both agreed we’d wait at least 30 minutes into the show if we had to, to make sure we were getting an affordable deal**. We hardly had to wait 5***. 

*I’ve already maxed out on vacation time through our September Europe trip, but once my work team announced a group outing to see Star Trek and my manager asked me to work 12-9, I figured why not ask if I could work 10:30-7:30 and catch the 8 pm Macca show. My manager was cool with it and I had a feeling we could score a couple tickets.

**Scalpers get more and more desperate as the show goes on. I once got into Bruce Springsteen at the Erwin Center for $10. My dad often used this trick at Cubs games when I was a kid and it always made me nervous, but now I look forward to the haggling.

***We barely broke stride! And boy did we get even luckier once we actually got inside.

The first scalper we approached wanted $200 a ticket*. That wasn’t happening. The next guy wanted about half that. I told him we just wanted to get in the building. His buddy had the cheap seats. He waved him over and tried to sell us two for $100. I told him we’d pay $80. He pulled out the tickets. “These aren’t together,” I told him. “You’re not going to find two together for under 100.” “I’ll give you 70 for the pair.” “Fine.” Done deal. Now the only issue was our seats were on opposite sides of the arena, both in the balcony. One of our seats said row two on it and the other one said row 19. We decided to check out row two first. It was in the very first section next to the curtain. It’s one of those seats that could have been obstructed view, but had a surprisingly clear view of the stage. And, of course, the only open seat in the entire section was the one next to our seat. Jackpot**. 

*This was for floor tickets, so I understood his asking price. Those sold at $277 a pop from the online sale. **Admittedly, it had severely stressed me out when we didn’t get tickets together, but as we sat down in these perfect seats, I thought, I should never, ever doubt Zack. He puts his faith in the universe and, 9 times out of 10, the universe comes through for him.

It’s hard to pick out favorite moments from a three hour show by a total legend. I loved being able to see the lights and flash of the stage show up close. I loved Paul’s banter with Austin and how he catered to the town, asking if there were any Spanish speakers and then rambling off a phrase (presumably something humorous) in Spanish that he learned and said has “come in handy” a few times. I still loved the pomp and circumstance of “Live and Let Die.” And, of course, there were the cryers. The songs that just made me lose it. Unlike in Houston, I didn’t cry for the first few tunes Paul played. But when he took to the piano and proclaimed, “I wrote this next song for Linda,” something snapped in me*. The beauty of this guy who clearly still sees himself as a 30-something with a boyish face and a messy beard playing one of the most raw and incredible love songs, and still thinking of it as the song for the love of his life, broke me. Even though he forgot the chords to “Maybe I’m Amazed,” I cried through him laughing at himself and starting over again, and just wept openly as he sang his heart out for the rest of it. Then again, when Paul sang his song for John, “Here Today,” the emotion of the loss of his bosom friend hit me and I cried again**. That kind of emotional experience is beyond compare for me.

*She really let out a heaving cry for this one. Even Paul stopping the song completely and restarting couldn’t slow those tears. We may have to be Paul and Linda for Halloween sooner than later. 

**This is one I often cry at even if it’s just me listening to it alone in my car, but I didn’t cry once this show. 

My favorite part of the show was Caitlin’s fear/excitement/fear of indoor fireworks. She actually made an escape route*. She figured my triathlon training would allow me to escape. When they actually went off, she grabbed and clawed at my knee so hard I feared she’d tear my ACL**. Pretty amazing. *This one’s for you, mom! **Huge exaggeration. I squeezed his knee here; I dug my nails in during a different song.

Look, there was a lot to love about Paul’s show. The pyrotechnics during “Live and Let Die” were so awesome inside I felt the need to take a second vine. Macca raising up 15 feet on a riser for “Blackbird” was a great addition to this tour, “Something” on ukelele was lovely as always and “Past Masters” like “Paperback Writer,” “We Can Work it Out,” and “Daytripper” always slay. But it wasn’t Paul at his absolute best. He completely forgot the words to “Maybe I’m Amazed,” which was admittedly charming, and his stories about Hendrix and Clapton or meeting the Ministry of Defense in Russia were still as incredible as when he told us the same ones in November, but they dragged a bit. I’m nit picking. Paul totally ruled, but I never fully got immersed in it and let go and cried and got caught up in the magic of it all. Don’t get me wrong, I still soaked it all in and loved being there with Caitlin, but it wasn’t a “once in a lifetime” experience like the last show. 

As Zack and I headed out of the Erwin Center post-MACCA performance, we compared notes. For Zack, Austin wasn’t even comparable to the Houston show, with critiques ranging from Paul’s performance to the setlist. For me, I still ranked the show among my all-time favorites, and even though it wasn’t quite as sparkly and new as the Houston show, I thought Paul gave an amazing performance and the set list, for me, had about the same number of “meh” song choices as the one before. Still, when it came down to numbers, we both landed on a 9.6. Paul on a slightly off night with a less than stellar set-list is still better than just about anyone. You’re going to still get 15-20 of the greatest songs ever written by a legend among legends who still absolutely has it. I’m thrilled that we got to go and would go see Paul every single chance I get the rest of his life. He’s just the best. And even though I’m jealous Caitlin got to enjoy it with her dad and I couldn’t pull off seeing Paul with my dad, there’s no one I’d rather see Macca with than her.

After lady beards a couple weeks ago, how could we not follow up with cat beards? We’ve also got a dog making an omelette, some “Scrubs” and “Saved by the Bell” lists. There’s really not a whole lot more to say. The internet gave us amazingness during a tough week.

This dog making its owner an omelette is the cutest thing ever. EVER.

Omelette from Madeline Sharafian on Vimeo.

Is that all we got? 

Click here for Yes.

17 more amazing behind the scene Saved by The Bell pics. I found this one, but it’s much more Zack’s thing than mine. SbTB was before my time.

23 More Reasons Your Relationship Will Never Compare to Turk and J.D. This, however, is the couple I strive to emulate. EEEEEAAAGGGLLLEEEEE!!!!

Oh, and this guy cloned himself with GIFs. Like a badass.

So Zack decided to go ahead and fall in love with a vegetarian. He’s been very flexible and understanding of my dietary restrictions, and generally will just eat meatless dishes with me, or cook a filet of some kind on the side*. However, this normally means one of three entrees: pasta, veggie burgers, or pizza. I’m not exactly a picky eater, but I’m a very particular** one, and I have to be in the mood to eat what I’m eating. To change things up (slightly) this weekend, we decided to cook our two dinners at the apartment and see what we could do. We still involved pasta, but in a re-imagined way so I’m counting it.

*This is pretty rare. Only a handful of times do I make a little chicken or fish to go with what we’re making for dinner.

**She’s especially picky/particular for a vegetarian. She doesn’t like avocado, mushrooms or spinach, aka the building blocks of a vegetarian’s alternative meals. 

On Friday night, we went with a pasta-and-salad combo to up our veggie intake and offset the literal entire container of feta cheese involved in the pasta*. This was my favorite of the two dinner recipes, by a slight margin, because the pasta was SO delicious. Plus, it went together in a flash. The salad actually took longer to make because I had to hand-peel zucchini slices for the base of it. We indulged in purchasing some pine nuts** for the pasta, which was a great choice. We forgot, however, to snag parmesan for the pasta because the site with the recipe was laid out really oddly. Here’s what we did:

*I’d advise using half as much feta as suggested, but it was pretty darn delicious with all of it.

**Things I learned when buying ingredients: pine nuts are $36 a pound. And actually worth it.

Zucchini Ribbon Salad

1 cup diced fresh tomato (from 1 average sized tomato)
10 large basil leaves, thinly sliced (plus extra small leaves, to garnish)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves minced garlic
1 lb zucchini, peeled into ribbons (see note above)

Sea salt
Fresh black pepper

In a large mixing bowl, toss together the tomato, basil, vinegar, olive oil and garlic. Add a big pinch of salt and some fresh black pepper. Let that sit as you prep the zucchini.

When zucchini is ready, add to the bowl and using your hands, toss to coat. Taste for salt. Garnish with basil leaves and serve!

Really liked the salad, loved the pasta. I’d make both again. I think Caitlin would only make the pasta again.

Angel Hair Delight (I named this just now, it’s terrible, I’m sorry*.)

*I think it’s de, wait for it, lightful! Delightful!

Ingredients:
8 oz. angel hair pasta
⅓ cup olive oil
½ cup chiffonade basil
3 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 tablespoon minced garlic
1 ½ pounds tomatoes – diced
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon pepper
1 cup coarsely crumbled feta
⅓ cup pine nuts – toasted

Instructions:
Bring water to boil – add salt
Toast pine nuts – set aside
Coarsely crumble feta – set aside
Dice and deseed tomato – set aside
Mince garlic – set aside
Chiffonade parsley and basil – set aside
When pot of water it is boiling -
Add oil to a skillet, when it shimmers, add garlic – just until fragrant about 20 seconds – careful not to burn.
Drop angel hair in the pot of salted boiling water for 1 minute to soften.
Add diced tomatoes to skillet – just to warm through – about 45 seconds
Off heat – Add in parsley, basil, crumbled feta, salt, and pepper – stir gently.
Add a little pasta water if needed to loosen dish.
Remove angel hair from boiling water; drop into skillet toss gently.
Taste for salt – (remember feta can be salty)
Place on a warmed plate – when plating use tongs; twist pasta into a mound – this will help hold the heat.
Top with toasted pine nuts.

We were so starving after seeing The Great Gatsby on Saturday* that we didn’t end up taking photos of our dinner before we nommed them down, but the photo above comes kinda close to what we did? Minus the chopsticks. We’re heathens and ate with forks. Anyway, this recipe comes from Zack’s co-worker** who is also vegetarian, and I decided to copy word-for-word to capture his eloquence in its entirety.

*Surprisingly good. Not great, but worth seeing in 3D.

**Thanks Eric!

Easy as fuck bowls of awesome
Soba noodles (they take 3 minutes to cook)
Chopped veggies (broccoli, zucchini, bell peppers, whatever the fuck you want)
Some sliced mushrooms
Garlic
onion
Sauté the onion and garlic in some butter or margarine (mined or chopped garlic, sliced or chopped onions)
Add the mushrooms and cook them in the garlic onion buttery goodness
add the other veggies and sauté them long enough to bring out the color. You can even pop a lid on your pan and let the steam do the work
Put cooked noodles in a bowl
Put the other shit on top
Put sriaracha on top of that*.
Eat it the fuck up

*I went cray on the rooster sauce.

Et voila! For our chopped veggies, we chose shredded and seasoned carrots, broccoli, squash, and snap peas. I dressed my bowl with soy sauce instead of sriaracha, and I opted out of mushrooms because I hate mushrooms. These were SO GOOD and definitely the healthier of the two meals. All I can really say is, how lucky am I to have someone who adventures to veggie town* with me, and enjoys it!

*I love going to veggie town and can’t wait to make all three of these again, and try a few new recipes as well. I’d say the zucchini salad was a 7/10, the Angel Hair Delight was a 9/10 and the Easy as Fuck Bowls of Awesome was an 8.5/10.

This picture from the set of “Anchorman 2″ gets me all kinds of excited*. The cast list on IMDB has everyone from Jim Carrey to Harrison Ford and Sasha Baron Cohen, and now Kanye? This week’s collection is just as all over the place. We’ve got Ryan Gosling refusing cereal, a stubborn kid with a seatbelt, a puppy failing at catch and a great DFA doc. Oh, and in case you were living under a rock, the “Space Oddity” from outer space** was amazing.

*I have never been the biggest “Anchorman” fan but this photo is killer.

**Best. Astronaut. EVER. He’s now my no. 2 fantasy uncle, with Tom Hanks still coming it at no. 1.

This one’s a bit old too, but it’s Gosling! Refusing cereal! Let’s be honest. I demanded that this be included because a) I hadn’t seen it before this week and b) it is hilarious and adorable and why is it adorable you ask oh let me tell you BECAUSE IT’S RYAN GOSLING.

Speaking of adorable, puppy wants to catch, but it takes time to learn. I think it’s important to note here that I hadn’t read this sentence before I wrote the pink, above, about Gosling, and my pink above did not exist when Zack wrote this sentence. We’re in each other’s brains now, people.

Who is this girl, drunk me? When I showed this video to Zack, this was his G-chat response, and I responded, “Well, you just wrote the Rag & Bone description of this video.”

Oh, and this DFA (LCD Soundsystem record label) 13 minute doc narrated by Marc Maron is awesome. Seriously. Worth every minute. It’s hilarious and amazing and makes me want to be a fan of every musician ever because it’s so much fun to be a fan.

There wasn’t an explicit discussion, but after such a jam-packed first day of hanging out around Austin, it felt universally agreed upon that we’d all sleep in as late as we wanted and get up leisurely. We woke up sore from our Go-Karting, making us all feel a little bit older than we’d hoped* (and, the boys had horrific bruises on their backs from being bumper-car’d into the whole time), so we decided to fight this feeling with a healthier lunch. We headed to Whole Foods to grab some sushi and treats, and then wandered around that area, hitting up Waterloo and Book People, where I invested in a tin Beatles lunchbox that I now use for my work lunches.

*It’s sad how much easy it is to get bruised and sore muscles in your late 20s.

We contemplated swimming, but even though it was warm, it wasn’t quite warm enough to justify the 68 degree waters of Barton Springs. So we headed off to bowl a few games, and I managed to broke 100 in both! We had a good time trying to improve each throw, and Brittany was able to break her no-strike streak with two at the end of the second game. Sam, on the other hand, was plagued with a series of only being able to get 9 pins, and he ended his second game on an appropriate score of 99. I rolled a 179 and 143 and could never string two strikes together, but my spare game was tight.

What I imagine Zilker looks like to Scooby. I can’t imagine he sees the skyline. I think it’s all dogs and trees to him.

We grabbed Scooby at that point and decided to take a stroll through Zilker Park. It was a nice jaunt*, and I even got a free tiny cupcake (they follow me wherever I go, I swear) before promptly stepping in some dog poop that was so squishy it shot up and got on my leg. This was the deciding factor for me that I was going to take a shower before we headed into our night.

*Me and Sam snuck in some football toss, my favorite thing.

When we all got showered and beautified, we headed to the Driskill for some tasty and semi-fancy dinner. Everyone enjoyed their meals, although the highlight again seemed to be the ice cream sandwiches we nommed down for dessert. Then it was off to a magical world of lights, bubbles and colorful animations while we rocked out to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr*. It was a peppy, dancey way to round off our weekend with the Nelsons, and we had an absolute blast.

*These guys are just getting better and better. I could say the same about our visits with the Nelsons. Next year in Indy/Bloomington!

“Enough of this, let’s go to the zoo,” Caitlin exclaimed after a frustrating couple rounds of go-karting. If there’s one thing Caitlin and Brittany unabashedly love, it’s animals, so even though Austin isn’t famous for its zoo, we figured we had to go check out the Austin Zoo & Animal Sanctuary. This isn’t the fanciest zoo, but the four of us loved that it’s a rescue zoo*, since we all got our dogs from a shelter. It was sad to see so many animals with a missing leg or some deformity**, but comforting to know they’d gotten a better home and they were awfully cute. Just look at those doe eyes.

*It makes it much more palatable that these animals aren’t simply there for our amusement or enjoyment, but they were actually rescued from being kept as pets (!!!) and brought somewhere where they could be properly cared for.

**Or even just really, really tired and seemingly depressed animals. It’s not an easy thing to see, and you could tell these babies were hot in the Texas sun. But Brit made the good point that, at least for the big cats, they were from Africa which is a much hotter place.

The zoo had lions, tigers and bears (oh my), but they, the panthers and pretty much all the big exciting animals were hot and tired and were totally not up for a photo shoot*. The goats, llamas and deer were way more into interacting with us and once they realized we’d bought a bag of food to feed them, we became their new best friends.

*We still got crazily close to the panther, who was leaning up against the fence with his face out to us, and did some big paw stretches and rested on his leg just like Scooby does. My heart melted.

Feeding animals was the highlight. The deer was our favorite and the llamas were pretty sweet too, even if we could never get “Ed” to nibble. So “Ed” was the name we gave to the white llama that we don’t have any pictures of. He seemed so sweet and cuddly, but he kept his distance and no amount of food held out in his direction swayed him to join us by the fence. I tried very hard to bring him to me using my strongest telepathy skills, but even though there was a moment I felt him swaying, there were too many other people around and I lost him. Another day, Ed … another day.

Well, this guy wasn’t friendly. Disagree — he was just desperate to get near to us/the food. Sorry, bud. We’re sign-readers.

This pig was gigantic and wanted nothing to do with us. I called him bacon. Not sure that helped. It definitely didn’t. We wanted to ride him into the sunset, which probably also didn’t help. He kept his back turned to us the whole time like the diva he was.

Caitlin really did love feeding these guys. That made me happy. I was like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty or any of those other princesses that talk to animals. Magic.

Peacocks were everywhere! They just kinda waltzed around the park, often not even in enclosures. It took a while to get one showing the full monty, but I finally nailed the shot. Zack was obsessed with the peacocks, and given the fact that they kept showing off for him, it seemed that they were pretty impressed with him, too.

Post-zoo, we tried to find a good location to catch the Bulls game. We started at our beloved under-the-apartment bar, the Hi Hat, but sadly the owner wasn’t in and our favorite waitress wasn’t working and it was full o’ hipsters who couldn’t help us change the channel to the game and gave up after about a minute of “trying” so we decided plan B was this super shady bar that Zack had always jokingly talked about going to, “Buckets.” Zack was convinced this was specifically a basketball bar because of the name*. Nope. It was a bar where you could buy buckets of beer, and …  let’s just say we changed the demographic of the bar by being there and it was uncomfortable and incredibly loud. We walked in, looked around, got one fist pump from a woman who said, “Go Bulls!” and walked right through to the other sound and out of the bar. Time for plan C, which was really my plan A, which was Austin’s Pizza. This ended up being an amazing choice, and even though the Bulls lost a tight game, it was a great way to end our busy day.

*Buckets! I once got that nickname after making some shots in basketball. I assumed they knew about it and named a bar after me. I’m still gonna have to go there one time and take down a bucket, even if Caitlin isn’t game. Half kidding.

One of the great bonuses of dating someone who is amazing is, that person typically also surrounds him/herself with amazing friends*, and you get to inherit them. Two of my favorites, Brittany and Sam, came down from Indianapolis and even put their beloved greyhound Treat at overnight camp to hang with us for the weekend, and it forced us to get out of our comfort zones and try things we wouldn’t normally try without visitors. For Zack, this meant biting the bullet and heading to the zoo**, which we’ll talk about more in a later post. For me, it was time to suck it up and get down in a go-kart for the first time in my life. The results were … mixed***.

*I do have some pretty great friends, it’s true.

**I think I decided I disliked the zoo in that period between childhood and adulthood when I didn’t know what one did at the zoo without Instagram and Vine. I’m all-in on Zoos now that I have a task.

***It wasn’t as bad as this picture. Sorry for the worst selfie ever taken.

The first night that Sam and Brit got to town, I had them all to myself because Zack was still at work. I picked them up from their swanky hotel downtown and we headed to a yummy dinner at Hillside Farmacy. We enjoyed all of the deliciousness there was to enjoy, including a fantastic homemade ice cream sandwich which was probably my favorite dessert I had all weekend (and, people — I had a LOT of desserts*). We then trekked back to the apartment so our friends could meet Scooby, who they were already the official godparents of, seeing as they gifted Scooby a stuffed parrot when we first got him. Scoobs seemed to sense that bond right away, and varied between melting in their laps or gently gnawing on Sam’s arm.

*This wasn’t even her only ice cream sandwich of the weekend.

The next day, it was go-kart time. Whenever you have to sign away your life in some creepy death waiver before you do an activity, it’s not a good sign*. Usually those are the activities I just decide to avoid. But there were CHILDREN go-karting at no miles per hour so I figured, might as well do what I can here. This shot from behind me was taken by Zack, and the guy in front of me is a rando who we ended up HATING** because he and his song kept purposefully running into Zack and Sam as if they were in bumper cars. They managed to avoid me but would speed quickly around me and Brit, who took our time getting our bearings.

*It’s usually the best sign.

**I dropped an F-bomb on the kid the second time he hit me, and stared him down. He’s lucky I wasn’t near him when we exited. 

Since I got to take my time, I quite enjoyed speeding around the little track, not going too fast but fast enough to get some wind in my face. I took the corners very slowly, but would speed up on the straights as much as I could. My little buggy sounded like it was going to fall apart sometimes*, so I wouldn’t ever go top speed**. Brittany was cautious, much like me, but our boys were comfortable being a little more reckless.

*I spun out once, but that was my own overzealousness.

**I only went top speed, except on turns.

After our first race around the track, Zack was about to wring the neck of the little obnoxious boy, so he asked if that kid would be back on the track for the next race*. We were assured he wouldn’t be, and asked to line up in a line of 11 cars. Surely, I thought, they won’t make us all go at once. 6 was somewhat crowded already. We joked with the mechanic while he helped me get my seatbelt on — all of the guys, when buckling me in, would always assure me they weren’t “trying to cop a feel,” which already made me creeped out as it was. It got worse.

*That’s a nice way of putting it. I called him a “little b****” to the guy running the track.

Nevermind. This is the worst selfie ever taken.

Zack and Sam were serious about being competitors*, but Brittany and I were really there to joy ride, and figured since each race cost $30 a person they’d just freakin’ deal with it, because, you know, we paid our good money. But, nope. Apparently, even though Brit and I stayed far, far over to the side to let others pass, we were going to slow. At one point, somehow, some dude in the random group of seven riding with us lost control and went into the side barrier, hard. He was totally fine, but at this point the flag holder decided to chew us out like we were kids in gym class**. He was very pointed with his words, saying, “There is slower traffic on the course, alright? I can’t force them to go faster, so you all need to WATCH. OUT. or I will stop this race and make you all go off the course!! You got me?!” OK, coach. Thanks a bunch. Shortly after the chewing out, the race was “over,” and Brittany and I were rerouted before we could even finish our last lap. The mechanic, apparently not understanding that we were done at this point, decided it’d be nice of him to come over and tell us, “You aren’t in trouble, y’all, but just make sure that if you’re going to go slower, you want to keep to the inside.” Yeah. Thanks.

*It was a race, after all. The goal was to have the fastest lap time.

**The guys who ran the course really did act like dick head gym teachers on a power trip.

After that abysmal experience with K1 Racing, Brittany and I were ready to feed some deer and let the stink of the zoo wash over us, taking the place of the stench of asshats at the racing track. It was a shame, because I really enjoyed myself speeding around corners the second time around*, and I know we’d have all enjoyed ourselves more if we’d had the track to ourselves. But, now I can cross that off of my list of life activities (and maybe give it another go at a different track, because … you’re finished, K1**. Done.) Check out how our day at the zoo was next!

*The second race was the best. All of our fastest lap times went up 10 seconds and I really got the hang of it. Aside from the wanna-be gym teachers and clowns on the course who kept bumping us, it was a lot of fun.

**I almost threw my K1 card and $5 off coupon out at my desk. Then I put it in my desk. It’s not quite garbage material, it’s not quite wallet material, but it’ll die a slow death in my work desk.

Did you notice something besides the awesome beard? Wait for it … Yeah, that’s two people. There’s a couple more of these in the set. It’s funny, high school friends like to say Caitlin’s my beard. I’m just kidding. I didn’t have friends in high school*. Anyway, here’s a bunch of  gifs and videos of the Bulls, because other than our vacation and writing about our vacation, that’s what I know I’ve been thinking about**.

*Ba-da-tschhhh! (Me either.)

**Me too, for the most part.

After the Bulls somehow won game 7 in Brooklyn, we’re now facing the unstoppable Miami Heat and their miserable bird flipping fans. In game one, the Bulls found a way to beat Miami, even without D. Rose, Deng and Kirk. So, eat it Miami nut jobs. Full disclosure: the Bulls lost by almost 40 in game two, Noah and Taj got kicked out and there were a lot of fights.*

*Not proud of that. I prefer respectful players. But I still do love my Noah. 

Now Deng is probably out the rest of the playoffs with complications from a Spinal Tap that made him lose 15 pounds in a week, and the Bulls may not win another game this season, but at least we have Nate:

L’il NATE!

OK, one more non-bulls thing. Bill Simmons had a hilarious bit on Jimmy Kimmel last night where he described how he told his daughter a white lie to get her to hate the Lakers. I have a feeling Caitlin will be cool with me pulling something like this for Rosie.

I’m open to a white lie like this. I usually would say, honesty is always the best policy, but honestly, Kobe Bryant probably does hate golden retrievers ’cause he’s a jack-a-hole.

Our final full day of the trip was thankfully the most relaxing of the three. We woke up in Glendale at Andy’s apartment, showered, ate some fresh fruit, cornbread and chocolate croissants that he’d graciously purchased for us and got on the road by 10:30 and headed toward San Diego. It was an easy two hour drive in Big Sir on the 101 and we got to my Aunt Tabby and Uncle AJ’s place in time to park, grab some water and start our walk into Petco stadium for Caitlin’s first ever baseball game*.

*Yep, you read that right. I’m sorry, Texas. I have disappointed you.

San Diego is known for being 72 degrees and sunny 365 days a year, but it was a chilly, rainy Cinco De Mayo this year. We all wore hoodies and jackets and Caitlin wrapped Lynae’s Padres blanket around herself to stay warm. My cousin Jon has season Padres tickets and we chose a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, knowing it wouldn’t be the toughest ticket and he could get us six together. I wasn’t sure how Caitlin would feel about a baseball game, being fairly new to the game, but she was all about it. The usher gave her a “My First Game” pin* and she got a squishy ball and was treated like a princess. We saw back-to-back homers, taught Caitlin phrases like double play and the specifics of a strike out and how the seventh inning stretch worked**. It was a lovely day at the ballpark, even with the chilly weather.

*It was like my 16th birthday at Disney World all over again.

**Spoiler alert: There’s singing, y’all. Also good to note, it’s named the “seventh inning stretch” because you are literally supposed to stretch your limbs. Amazing.

After the game, we headed up to Tabby and AJ’s for a few minutes to recover and look at some amazing old photographs of Zack and his family. Then we all split up as Zack and I headed for the beach. We were crazy to trek out on a cold and rainy* day, but we would have been crazy not to make at least one pit stop to walk along the sands. It was a requirement of the weekend for us, and even though on the drive over I began a sneezing fit that was unpleasant for everyone, we trudged through it and got to the salt and the sea and the waves.

*It rained progressively harder as we drove to the beach only to stop as soon as we parked Big Sir.

Almost instantly upon setting foot on the sand, my allergy-cold cleared up long enough so that I could enjoy a beach walk with my dearest man. We held hands, played in the sand, ran toward and away from waves, got grossed out from seaweed on our feet (maybe that was just me), and managed to get airborne for the above beachy photos. We took our time there, watching beginner surfers get disappointed at a lack of good riding waves and letting our feet sink in as waves splashed into the sand around them. It was a lovely moment and a perfect kiss-off to the California atmosphere, and even though the moment we started heading back to the car my nose ran like it was in a race*, that section of time by the beach was a perfect gift from the universe.

*Caitlin was sniffing like she had a coke problem and when she stopped sniffling for even a second her nose ran like a faucet. Poor thing.

After the beach, we headed to Jon and Lynae’s house for a Cinco De Mayo feast. Jon and his buddies cooked up a full spread, the works really. Home made  rice and beans, guacamole, fish tacos with fresh tortillas and quesadillas, all of which were delicious. I ate everything, except the bat signal. It was good to hang with Jon and Lynae and get to know their friends better*. One of the guys co-owns a fantasy football team with Jon in the league I’m commissioner  (and  champion) of, so it was good to talk a little smack and put a face to a name. We all pretty much went into a food coma right after eating, and plopped on the couch to watch some “Anchorman” and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and relax before a quick game of table shuffleboard** and crashing in Jon and Lynae’s luxurious guest room.

*I am in total agreement here, and only care to add that I was so disappointed to be feeling so crappy that I ultimately hid away in our guest bedroom for much of the evening, trying to pull myself together. Lynae acted as the perfect caretaker, bringing me Zyrtec and a laptop and water and basically anything I could ever need. She and I still need a true hang-out; the trip was just the tip of the friendship iceberg for us.

**I did not partake in shuffleboard. I went straight to bed, like a wimpy wimp.

We woke up before 6 a.m. on Monday, had a smooth car rental drop off*, and got back on the plane to head back to reality in Austin. For Caitlin, it meant an ACL taping of Phoenix** and for me it meant heading directly to work as soon as we landed. It felt good to be back (especially once we picked up Scooby), but I know that all this week my mind kept drifting back to that drive down PCH, the amazing friends and family we were happy to see, but wish we saw more of, and the beaches we only had time to dip our feet into***. It was an incredible whirlwind vacation, but next time we’ll have to pick one place and really jump in, instead of just dipping our toes in****.

*The smoothest! I highly recommend Alamo if you’re looking to rent a car, we had a truly great experience with them and they didn’t overcharge us horribly on the missing gas from the tank.

**So not exactly back to reality for me. I found out after landing in our layover city of Dallas that I’d won a press pass plus one to the taping, and decided that despite my exhaustion, there was no way I was missing one of my favorite bands when I had a pass.

***Too true. It’s been a tough wake-up call being back, but the memories have kept me smiling all week.

****Great plan. Perhaps a trip to Europe?

It was a little after 1 am early Saturday morning when we made the executive decision to change the alarm from 7 to 7:45 am. We’d just closed our window, deciding we’d rather be hot with no air conditioning than have the loud San Francisco drunk chatter float up to our sixth floor dinky hotel room. With a 10 hour drive ahead of us and 7 p.m. happy hour plans in L.A., we didn’t have the luxury of sleeping in, but we needed those 45 minutes. As I said to end the day one post, it was the breaking point of the trip as we lay there trying to get some much needed sleep. Somehow, we woke up feeling like a million bucks* and showered, checked out, paid our $25 hotel parking fee and made it to brunch by 8:30 a.m. It was a miracle, and the beginning of an unforgettable day.

*I’m not sure if I’d go quite that far, but we were definitely in far higher spirits than expected. I actually woke up at 7AM anyway, before the alarm, and hopped in the shower to keep us on schedule.

Our good friend Danny suggested we go to the 95 year-old St. Francis Fountain in San Francisco for brunch, and it couldn’t have been a more ideal choice. We got there early enough to beat the hipster rush*, and the food was incredible. Caitlin got the  ”Nebulous Potato Thing” pictured above, got the small size and still could only finish half of it. She washed it down with a cherry coke made with real cherry syrup and actual cherries in the glass and I had the bacon/avocado/english muffin/hollandaise sandwich with a fruit cup and bottomless OJ and coffee**.

*The early-bird hipsters were still there, though, judging our conversations and standing in front of the bathroom, oblivious to those trying to navigate around them.

**It was definitely a tasty and hearty breakfast, and I surprised myself by going cherry coke instead of ice cream float or milkshake. With that pile of cheesy carbs you see above, though, I figured any other dairy product would send me over the edge, and a coke at 8:30AM was already weird enough.

We hit the road with printed out directions (thanks again, Danny), rode the 101 for a couple uneventful hours aside from a hilariously appropriate pit stop at “Burrito Factory*,” and stop in “Big Sir” from 3/4 to a full tank with a surprising 7 gallons of gas and entered the legendary PCH 1.

*It was for, ahem, a bathroom break.

We got stuck in a bit of traffic for our transition from the 101 to the legendary California One, so we decided to throw on Zack’s “Ode to California” mix which kicked off with Tupac’s “California Love.” We blasted it, to what I’m sure was the sheer delight of our traffic neighbors. The mix picked up with some excellent oldies as we rounded a corner and were exposed to the most stunning ocean and mountain views we’d ever seen in our lives.

It’s tough to describe with words just how incredible our view was. We attempted to capture it via photos and a James Brown Vine from the car , and you do start to get an idea, but unless you’re in a muscle car, cruising around twisty roads, windows down, cold ocean-and-mountain air tussling your hair and reddening your cheeks, it doesn’t quite do the drive justice. It was truly magical, listening to hand-crafted epic music mixes as we edged around the literal end of the United States — we were there, looking at all you could see on the far west coast. During the whole 8 hour drive, Zack and I mostly just exchanged “Oh my God!”s and one “Cow, I win!” (I’ll let you guess who said that one*), contented to listen to the music and take in the experience. Zack was a champion, driving the entire 433 miles from San Francisco to L.A., giving me the best seat in the house. We fell in love with the drive, we fell more in love with each other, we fell in love with life**. We took a couple pit stops to stretch our legs and snap a couple photos of the waves.

*Caitlin dominates “Cow, I win” and the board game Sequence to an absurd degree.

**Nailed it. It was truly incredible. Everyone needs to experience this drive in their lives. 

Once we got through Big Sur, we started looking out for the waterfall spot our friend Janosch described for us and found it just as he described. I was antsy to get to the waterfall and get back on the road and was run walking, as if it was the first morning of a music festival. Caitlin reminded me to be patient and enjoy the hike*, and we stopped to take a pic of her on this bridge, and then we got to the treacherous, horrifying streams we had to cross with only fallen branches and stones to walk across. Well, that was how Caitlin saw it at least. I waltzed across the streams, but Caitlin was terrified, asking me to hold her hand as she slowly made her away across and our shoes got more and more soaked**. (Vine of me crossing the streams that terrified Caitlin.) It was endearing how much the streams intimidated her, but she did get quite flustered and frustrated with me as we made our way to the waterfall***. Caitlin decided she’d had enough just two minutes before the waterfall, so I ran ahead to take this Vine of the waterfall and as I ran back, I was relieved to see her pushing through and we turned around and reached the top together. I was thrilled that she overcame her fear**** and shared the waterfall with me. It was a perfect excursion from the road.

*Mostly because I was feeling really tired and didn’t have the energy to keep up with Zack.

**One does not simply cross a creek in Converse. My shoes had zero traction, and I could envision clearly what it would be like to slip and break my butt.

***I was totally not upset with Zack, although I totally took it out on the poor guy. I was frustrated with myself for not being less of a scaredy cat about just hoppin’ on along the creek.

****Only time will tell if the fear is truly overcome. (Spoiler:  It is probably not.)

We still had plenty of driving to do after the hike, including over two more gorgeous hours on PCH where we had to restrain ourselves from pulling over at every opportunity to see things like the throng of sea lions* or the incredible views along the beaches. We had happy hour plans to make. Well, as hard as we tried to power through and cruise in “Big Sir” at 80 mph, we just weren’t going to make it to LA before 7:45, let alone 7. Caitlin spent a solid 45 minutes navigating between both our phones to co-ordinate moving happy hour to dinner and changing our dinner reservations from four to six while arranging it with two sets of people. Oh, and the Bulls were playing in a game seven playoff, so Andy was texting us updates all throughout the half, culminating in a big Bulls win** just in time for Andy and my buddy Alex to leave their apartments and meet us and Caitlin’s friends Jason and Amarra at the restaurant.

*THE SEA LIONS!!!! All of these wild animals, just piled onto the beach like it’s nothing. It was as majestic as I’d ever seen sea lions. When we were still sort of far away from their main hangout, I saw them all napping on the sands and two dark figures standing in the middle, which I initially thought was a pair of crazy humans, but it turned out to be two sea lions “standing,” and either fighting or dancing (I’m hoping for the latter).

**Best text of the day. We were thrilled to hear our Bulls had won their series. Actual best text from Andy during the game was “Belly w/a big 3…and appeared to signal how large his testicles are.”

Andy had suggested Wood & Vine based on Yelp reviews, and it ended up being a delicious choice. I had potato gnocchi that melted perfectly in my mouth, and the best mixed drink I’ve ever had in my entire life, no exaggeration. It was called “The Accomplice” (which is an amazing drink order anyway, because when the waiter says, “Who’s ‘The Accomplice’?” you get to say, “That’s me!”) It’s a mix of champagne, organic vodka, strawberry, and lemon juice, and it was so smooth and easily drinkable that I indulged in two, thanks to Zack’s deep and kind pockets. I hadn’t seen my friends Jason and Amarra since 2009, so I basically jumped on them when they came in the restaurant, and we talked about what they were up to and a podcast idea I’ve got* that they’re going to help me with. And, of course, it’s always a treat to hang out with Festival Crasher Andy and super sweetheart Alex**. It was a perfectly wonderful dinner, and when it was finished, it was time to have some laughs.

*Caitlin came up with this gem of an idea on the drive and I can’t wait for her to share it with you all soon.

**Love those guys. Dinner was excellent, though the lighting was so dark we had to hold the candles to the menu to read any of it, but once we ordered it was just a great meal with great friends. I didn’t get to talk to Jason and Amara as much as I’d hoped, but I did get to hear about the movie soundtrack Jason was working on and was at a great spot at the table to be able to pivot between conversations with everyone. I wish it would have been longer, but I could easily say that about every step of the trip.

After dinner, we headed a few blocks away to the UCB theater for a comedy show called “Before You Were Funny,” where the idea was that three comedy writers would dust off some very early pieces they’d written in high school or college and read them aloud. It felt like it could have been really hit or miss based on the description, but it was a big hit*. Whether it was that guy (that you don’t know from that show Veep that you don’t watch) reading his purposefully bad poems from college, complete with grading notes from his bizarre teacher, or Dan Harmon’s girlfriend, (who you only likely know well if you read the brilliant Pappademas profile in Grantland) reading unsent emails to a high school teacher she was in love with, or the writer from Kroll Show reading his first sketches from his college improv group, the Rubber Chickens, it was all incredibly funny. And Caitlin even got a cupcake**. After the show we filed out and Andy handed me his phone with his address in it to guide us to his place, since my phone’s battery had died hours ago. We got back to his Glendale apartment, watched that week’s Parks and Rec and caught some solid futon Z’s. What a day.

*I am in 100% agreement here. I was skeptical, but we were all rolling in the aisles.

**The girl baked and brought these. I’ll admit, when the two hosts began handing them out, I definitely wanted one, but was also concerned that they would become some cruel Office-like joke on the audience and we’d all be running for the bathrooms. Thus, I let Alex bite into his cupcake first before indulging in mine. It was delicious.

Click here for part 3: San Diego Beaches & Baseball on Cinco De Mayo