30 in tahoe

Lake Tahoe is one of my very favorite places on Earth, so it was fitting that my amazing boyfriend and amazing family and friends surprised me with a weekend there to celebrate my 30th birthday. Not only was the weekend in Tahoe a surprise, but the appearances of my little brother and best friend, who accompanied my other brother and other best friend, were also huge surprises. Best surprise and best birthday I’ve ever had.

We enjoyed three awesome days in a house near Tahoe City, with a detour on the way to the seriously delicious Fremont Diner in Sonoma. The weekend was very relaxing, mostly spent watching Cardinals baseball (world champs!), drinking wine, eating BBQ ribs and enjoying the gorgeous fall weather, complete with the golden leaves of the aspen trees. We did make it out to one very brief hike to the top of Eagle Rock for an awesome view of the lake, and one leisurely walk in Tahoe City to get ice cream and bask in the autumn sunshine.

In all…perfection.

fleet week

Last weekend was Fleet Week in San Francisco, a week of naval celebration and recognition, culminating in performances of Blue Angels and other cool military planes – including a stealth bomber – zooming above the bay. The weather was sunny and gorgeous, and it seemed like the whole city was outside watching – from the Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf, the Embarcadero or apartment rooftops if they were lucky enough to have one with a view. Of course, the seriously lucky ones were on a boat out in the bay, watching the planes race by directly overhead. Maybe next year…

hardly strictly bluegrass

This past weekend was one of San Francisco’s best – the annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, held the first weekend of October in Golden Gate Park. The three-day festival takes place over six stages, and of the 90-plus performances, I only saw a few on Saturday afternoon, but they were great. Like its name suggests, the festival is bluegrass at heart, but there is a nice variety of other genres like country and rock.

The highlight for me was Ryan Bingham, the Academy Award-winning singer/songwriter who won much acclaim for his work on the Crazy Heart soundtrack. I also saw The Flatlanders and Reckless Kelly.

The other highlight was the weather – another beautiful Indian summer day in the city.