survivor mud run? aka piece of cake, now to something more challenging

somehow, i convince myself i was in shape at one point in my life. i cant really remember when it was or if i am letting myself get tied up in a distorted sense of who i was, but yes, i was in some sort of shape before. i think.

over the past 5 years, after my 30th birthday, things have been getting bad. a big gut, tired all the time, barely run a mile... if even that.

ive been saying i need to get into shape for way too long. ive been putting this off for way too long. the longer i wait, the harder it will be.

the other sunday, the better half of bbb somehow convinced me, along with a couple other friends of ours, to do a mud run. i was thinking this was going to be hell and theres no way i could do it..... survivor mud run.

before

after the "race" i was reminded why i say this one thing all the time.

after

"youre life doesnt suck, you do"

dont complain. dont make excuse. do it. and do your best. if you fail? who gives a shit. do it again. or do something else.

the survivor mud run is something nearly anyone can do. its a simple 5k run, a FLAT run, with a few very simple, easy obstacles.

the event itself was a fun outing, something out of the ordinary, that made it a fun sunday, but what i took away from it was worth way more.

take that buffalo wing out of your mouth and get the hell off the couch and do something. anything. take the dogs for a run, ride your motorcycle, go make that planter box youve been wanting for months....

stop making excuses.

make your life worth it.

sooooooooo... now, yes, we are considering do this...

tough mudder

this WONT be a nice sunday walk.. this is serious stuff.


first thing on the to do list before this event, lets get some real running shoes and train so you can run 13 miles.

grabbed a pair of decent running shoes last night.

lets see how this goes.

another year another beer, but SUPRISE!

i remember i used to make a huge deal about birthdays. whether it was my own or someone elses, i would make sure theres some celebrating.

i used to think you had to do this.

one of the main reasons was because you never know if you were going to be around for another one.

well, ive been around for about a dozen more birthdays. maybe ill be sticking around for a bit longer.

i started making less and less a big deal about myself for my birthdays and focused on others. i started a short lived (maybe renewed next year) tradition where i would gather up about 100 or so friends and hold a fund raiser centered around food, benefitting our local food bank.

this year, i kinda wanted to keep things quite. i actually just wanted to spend a nice quite weekend with my lovely girlfriend, maybe go out of town. have a nice little dinner...

as you can imagine, i was pretty happy when she told me we were going to have a nice quite little birthday celebration, something during the day then dinner at TFL.

first off, she totally was feeling the vibe i was giving off, i wanted to do something a bit quite. secondly... she got a reservation at TFL!?!?!?! wow.  how the hell did she pull that off and right on my birthday too! this is looking real good!

well, even though i was very curious about the day time activity and how she managed to score a TFL reservation, i didnt snoop around for more information. i trusted her. and i wanted things to happen organically. she said the day time activity will be fun, then a nice dinner. simple. done and done.

the morning of, we wake up and drive to napa. maybe i shouldnt have drank so much at home the night before. im praying the day time activity isnt something active. please god, no mountain biking, horseback riding. the drive up alone, i felt like digusting yellow bile was swilling around in my stomach like a toilet flushing, just waiting to explode. at times, i felt like the inside of a magic eight ball.

we make it to our destination. we drive into what seems like an office park.

wtf?!?!

OH!!!!

OHHHH!!!!!

the meritage resort and spa! dude. score!

ive never been here. im excited... oh wait, whats this? a spa in a cave? ok this is getting very interesting.

we proceed into what is perhaps the coolest spa i have ever been to. yes, its in a cave. we check in. relax. then we are escorted into a room for our couples massage. almost instantly, im off into pampered lala land. man this couldnt get any better. no active crap. stomach is settling in. its been forever since i got pampered.... im thinking. man, this woman is just a little pint size full of amazing.

after a super relaxing couples massage, we decide to relax by the pool, grab a small bite, grab a glass of wine.... im telling you. at this point, there is not a care in the world. got an amazing woman by my side, hella relaxed, nibbling on some shrimp cocktails, having some wine....

everyday should be like this

we relax poolside for a couple hours.
im told there is one more thing we need to do before our dinner at TFL.... WOOHOO DINNER AT TFL!!!

we drive into yountville because she informs me there is something to pick up at ad hoc.... im thinking wtf?!?! pick up something at ad hoc?... are we eating a small bite before dinner at tfl? does she know its going to be like 7 courses of full on food awesomeness in yo mouth?

we walk into ad hoc.... did i mention i love ad hoc? i love the concept. i love the food. i love the atmosphere. i had the pleasure of dining here since they opened up and during the fours years ive been eating here, i have NEVER had anything close to a bad meal. everything has been great to amazing.

i love that ad hoc takes any dish and make it the best they can possibly make it. the thomas keller lineage shows through.

anyways, we check in with the front desk. i see a packed house... its always packed here. its so popular now i had a tough time making reservations the last few times... damn stupid yelpers.

she escorts us outside to the back for some reason... oooh, thinking maybe we are going to addendum. i havent seen the take out window in action, ooo we are picking up some world famous ad hoc fried chicken to go!




nope.

damn you

SURPRISE!!!!!!

there is a giant table set up in their garden.

30 or so of my closest friends old and new. all here. on my birthday. surprise birthday dinner for me. at ad hoc. one of my favorite places in the world.

it was more than i could handle. seriously. im already not great at accepting simple compliments and even though i may seem like the type to be loud and very much the center of attention, when it comes to true attention, i get all flustered and weird. it took me a good 30 minutes or so to let it all absorb in.

my girlfriend planned and organized a surprise dinner for me, in yountville, at ad hoc, special dinning area and all, with a gang load of my closest friends..... i know how hard it is to get a dinner set up in the same city for a handful of people. how the hell do you get hella mofos up into the napa valley, keep it all a surprise and pull this off?

words escaped me most of the night.

 i went around to talked to these amazing people that came up to do all this, all the while an amazing meal being presented by the wonderful staff at ad hoc. chef david came up with a few special things here and there for our dinner and i have to say, yes, it was good. really good. i loved hearing some of the things people were saying about the food. some of the most simplest things were the highlights for people. we forget how good a bean can actually be, not just because it was cooked and prepared perfectly, but because it started from when that bean was growing.

pole bean and potato salad

tomato gazpacho

beef carpaccio with porcini mouse

fried soft shell crab.... OMFG GOOD

world famous ad hoc fried chicken

saffron risotto

grilled short ribs

no dinner is complete without cheese

a couple from the selection

dinner was amazing. obviously. the drinks were equally amazing. paired up wonderfully with the meal. i was so happy to see my friends enjoy a meal with me at one of my absolute favorite places in the world.

two hours or so into dinner, i began to think of some things that almost made me tear up.

i lived a long three decades or so. not particularly a hard life by any means, but a long one nonetheless. and through all the transformations ive had in my life, i always held on to the notion that i am a good person. i always thought of myself as the type that tries to leave every place slightly better then when i arrived. there have been many hardships as of late and no matter how strong you are inside, they do wear you down.

this night, it made me feel as though i had lived a good life. i may not have my name in forbes, i may not be a famous chef, i may not be particularly rich, but as stupid as it may sound, i am rich in life. i have an amazing woman that organized all this for me. i have amazing friends that helped with the organization and took time out of their busy lives to come out and be here for this.

it really made me truly happy. one of those rare moments in life where everything makes sense.

it was getting a bit dark now and it was about time to go home. dinner was amazing. my friends are amazing. my woman? well im sure you know how i feel by now.

oooooh whats this? a seperate dessert from what ad hoc is serving? OOOOOOO LOOK AT THAT! dude, my woman is hella funny. she knows i dont really do cakes, sweets, desserts. my idea of dessert is coffee, sambvca, a late harvest (fill in the blank).....

she got a whole suckling pig for dessert!! score!!!!!

wait what.... thats not a suckling pig.... wait what?!?!!? THAT IS A CAKE?!?!?!

holy crap me!

YES this is a cake! the evening was settling down, then this bad boy pops out. the table was again buzzing with life. my girlfriend had some how found a cake that could impress a group of people that are not easily impressed. everyone had to take a second look. even the staff at ad hoc had to take a second look.

this whole thing is edible. its a red velvet cream cheese cake. those apples are rice crispies.

incredible. absolutely stunning. just look at the stupid doofy grin i have on my face. i couldnt believe it. now course if you want one of your own, well, the girlfriend did her homework finding the right person to do this. obviously she found someone with amazing talent. debbie does cake .debbie does amazing. im still shocked when i see this picture. just look at that!

what a way to end the evening.

its pretty obvious, i had an amazing birthday, a birthday i wont ever forget. its truly one of those events in your life that you will recall on your deathbed.

life should be full of these types of memories.

surrounding myself with good people, doing what i need to do in my life and most importantly finding someone that shares that goal with me, i think i am well on my way to ensuring my life will be full of these types of memories.

chef david cruz, thank you for an amazing meal

special thanks to seb and simone of s + s gastro pub for helping out with everything. even cooking me a seperate special bday dinner the week before to throw me off. you guys are great friends.

special thanks to chef david cruz and all the amazing staff at ad hoc for an amazing meal with patient and attentive care.

thanks to all my amazing friends for making the drive out and celebrating with us- sammy, aycin and averie, chum, will and jocelyn, jason, hendizzle, tom, tiffany and jeff, thai guy mike, dave, cheryl, kristen and aaron, elaine and dave, arnold and christel, aaron and jennifer, kevo... thank you for taking time out to come be part of this.

and to my special little pint size woman of awesomeness. words can not express my gratitude. if i can make you feel half of what i felt that evening, you will never have a bad day. thank you for all that you have done, for who you are and what we will do.

oh wait, did i mention there were party favors?

bacon marmalade anyone?

wait so were NOT going to the french laundry?

i feel so parental. adopted an olive tree.

so for christmas, my amazing woman and bibimblog cofounder got me something way outside the box.

i like outside the box.

through this company nudo, she adpoted an olive tree somewhere in italy, on some small farming collectives grove... a tree is being adpoted, or more accurately put, sponsored by me. this also get me a couple shipments of the olive oil produced from olives grown in that grove.

first reaction was like, whoa, thats freaking cool! i never heard of that. what a cool gift to find someone really into supporting local small businesses and has a love of cooking...

then, the dark side of me peeps out and i started to think, what a scam! sell "adoption" papers to people all over the world, saying youre helping sustain a small farm... then bail out to some sunny tropical island!

well, i fight off all thoughts that this is a scam and i focus more on the idea that this is a brilliant way for to help subsidize costs for small farms trying to fight back big corporate farms.

its been about six months since i received those first adoption papers and i finally received my first shipment of olive oil. it included a small note stating what i was thinking before.

apparently the olive oil industry is plagued by big corporate farming also. they get companies that come in, suck every penny out of the land, take every short cut possible and maximize profits. hell, olive oil "made in italy" doesnt even have to be made from olives from italy, just bottled there. high quality olive oil should be cold pressed.... big corporate farms use heat to extract more oil, ending up with an inferior product.

well, i had my doubts about this adoption program and even though im no olive oil expert, having tasted some good locally made products, (did you know that theres a restaurant in mill valley that has a olive oil press in use right IN the restaurant?) i was quite impressed with this olive oil.

i have to be honest, this is probably some of the best olive oil ive ever tasted. bright, complex, interesting... its really good stuff.

worth the price of adoption? yes. of course you end up paying a bit more than you should for good olive oil, but knowing that you helped a small local farmer stay in business just a bit longer, fighting off evil corporate farms? thats worth the premium.

if you want good food, you need support small farmers who dedicate their lives to producing quality ingredients.

good job homie, good job

damn, i use super frou frou cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil. im so hella san francisco.

day time drinking aka my other full time job, wait what locally made whiskey?

well not so much anymore. i got all responsible and stuff as of late. long gone are the days of playing who can get the most passed out drunk fastest at 10am. long gone are the days of "can i get four grey goose chilled please... no, in one cup."

but that doesnt mean you still cant have fun.
the other day, i had an opportunity to do something ive always wanted to do but just never got around to it.

anchor steam brewery tour!

anchor steam brewery has been an sf local since sf was a city. its old school sf.

personaly, i love anchor steam beer. i always have. after this tour and tasting.... theres more to love.

the tour itself was pretty informative. im kind of a history buff and i love trivia. i am the king of useless information. but i did not know the theories behind the name of anchor steam...

on our tour, joe was our guide. homie knew his stuff. we started off in the tasting room, im assuming partly for logistics as well as for the teaser effect. joe introduced us to the history of the brewery, its owners, the building.... and where anchor steam is heading now.

i learned quite a bit from this little quick and dirty history lesson. who knew anchor steam had an award winning small distillery onsite? rumor has it, it will soon be more widely available. their award winning whiskey had me REALLY intrigued. a local whiskey thats supposed to be good and i havent heard of it, let alone tasted it!??!!? i need to find some!!! wait, how small production is it? oh.... ok, thats why i never tasted it.

anyways, keep an eye out for anchor steams single malts! you heard it here first. if you see it anywhere, grab some.

so back to the tour. we walked through the first set of doors into a room with three huge copper containers. this is where it all starts. magical ingredients mixed and heated up with magical sf tap water. the first step of the magical process begins.

the tour proceeded and we saw where the magical mixture of ingredients goes through the different stages of frementation....

and one of my favorite stops of the tour. the hop box room.... yeah. hop box. did you know the hops used to make beer is a distant relative of cannabis? yeah. go to a hop box room and see why the brewers give it the nick name hop box.

i loved the magical bottling room. watching each of those bottles fly by, for a moment i thought about the life of each of those bottle. where it started from. getting filled. sent of to a loving adoptive parent.... almost brought a tear to my eye.

we were led downstairs to the cooling rooms. this is what i think of when i hear a brewery. giant containers of cold beer. ahhhhh yeah.

after a very informtaive 20 30 mintues or so, we were led back to the room where it all started. the tasting room. ahh man. this is gonna be good.

and it was.

we were led through all the current offerings anchor steam had to offer, from the lighter summer beers, to the their foghorn that makes a man out of anyone.

do yourself a favor. go to their website. sign up for their FREE tour. make a nice afternoon out of it. its worth a try.

now i have anther motto to go along with one of my heros fmaous words...

"to alcohol, the cause of and solution to all of lifes problems"
homer simpson