weekends are never long enough

It began with a send-off on Friday for my co-worker. I found myself at the Wine Center, slurping down oysters and Sauvignon Blanc, and then eating and drinking through both the food-and-wine pairing and the dessert pairing. (And I love the dessert pairing so much that I actually ate a colleague's half-eaten desserts right off of his plate.)

A mere hour after that gastronomical feat, I met an old friend from high school at Chickenland's new Himalayan place, a spot which has rapidly become one of my very favorite restaurants. We shared lentil soup, saag paneer and lamb kabobs and talked about the trials and tribulations of mommy-and-me playgroups (of which I know nothing about but quickly became educated on that evening).

On Saturday, it was off to Napa to pick out tablecloths, silverware and plates for the wedding -- an activity that turned out to be much less painful than we thought it was going to be. Naturally, our productivity deserved a reward, so we had lunch at Ubuntu, yet another one of my favorite spots. We shared the chickpea fries; beet, avocado and grapefruit salad (which was much more creative than it sounds); sauerkraut pizza (unbelievably yummy -- it was also topped with a fried egg and Emmenthaler cheese) and the "cheesecake in a jar."

And of course, one meal is not enough. A few hours after that, we were sitting on barstools with Laura at Bounty Hunter, sipping flights of Pinot and chicken dumpling soup. And then we walked over to Sift's new outpost and bought a couple of carrot cupcakes.

Today brought a grand finale what I can only describe as the Tower of Power: A bowl full of biscuits, gravy, scrambled eggs and potatoes, crowned with a big pile of bacon. I declared it completely worth the arterial blockages that loom in my future. Ah, Humble Pie! Is there ever a Sunday where I can't be found sitting at one of your tables, licking muffin crumbs off my fingers and asking for extra butter? The server actually even recognizes us now.