Mad few weeks coming up.

I have a crazy few weeks coming up.

We are in the last half of what looks to be our last release with our current client. We have had the luxury of being in the ThoughtWorks Chicago office for most of the engagement since February. So we're taking a trip to Kansas City tomorrow to show our faces and then most likely will be spending the first week of August there too. Goodness knows what project and in what city I will be working out of after mid August!

Tim is playing the the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this weekend, (so proud....). He is leaving for there on Wednesday night. I'll be following him on Friday, once I've got back form KCMO on Thursday. I
I've never been to Vegas, so I'm pretty excited. Although not so much about the heat down there. 40 degrees celsius on a a good day. We have some friends joining us down there, so if Tim's still playing at least I'll have some people to keep me company.

I'll be heading back to Chicago on Sunday, Tim may or may not be with me depending if he's still in the tournament or not.

Then on Wednesday night we fly out to the UK!!!! So so so very excited. It's the first time i've attempted a long weekend to the UK, so we'll see how I survive! It's my cousin Amy's wedding on the Saturday, so it'll be great to see all my family at once. Unsurprisingly I already have my eating itinerary all planned out. Fish and Chips, BBQ and surfing on the beach, roast dinner and a good few pints down in the local pub. Can't wait to be back!

The rest of the summer is shaping up to be pretty cool too. In mid August Tim and I are going back to Canada to visit his family, go to one of this friends' wedding and dropping in on everyone in Calgary. then in September I'll be catching up with Miss Danielle Topping in NYC for a girly weekend. It's a tough life ;-), no really it is......

It feels weird posting without any pictures so here are some that I took last night at a friends house for their 4th July celebration up on the roof of their place, and some others from this summer.

San Francisco - Anne's Birthday Trip May 2010

For my birthday this year Tim and I headed out to the west coast, to San Francisco. 

We flew out during the day on Friday, it was actually quite nice not to just rush from work to the airport on Thursday night like we normally would for a long weekend, but its does mean you lose most of that day, however we were much more relaxed!

We were staying at The Clift, a hotel that I had found on my latest obsession www.jetsetter.com. Turned out well. We were a few block from Union Square and the Trolleys. Once we got in we set off in hunt of some food for a picnic lunch the next day. We used the Trolleys, which although are a tourist trap and actually pretty handy to get around. We bought 3 day passes which turned out to be pretty worth the money. 

Those trolleys are mad, there is a poor brake guy with and actual giant lever on the back of the trolley, and is the only thing stopping you from flying down the super steep San Francisco hills. Rather him than me. We hopped off near China Town and wandered towards the Italian area, where we found lunch for the next day and a lovely bistro/cafe to sit in the sun and watch the world go by. Good espresso too.

Saturday (birthday day) was jam packed. We took the trolley down to Fisherman's wharf. I love being down by the sea, hanging out with boats and seafood is one of my favourite pastimes. We watched them turn around the trolley at the end of the track, amazing that they still just do it by hand, and then headed off towards the Golden Gate bridge for our picnic. It was an irritatingly hazy day (as I'm told it often is in San Fran), so we couldn't quite see the top of the bridge, but it was awesome to see it anyways.

After the trek there and back we went for a quick walk through Fisherman's wharf, lots of yummy looking crab and seafood stands. And of course the pier 39 Sealions.

We then jumped on the Ferry to Alcatraz Island. There is a great audio tour around the old prison island. It's amazing to imagine what it would of been like to of been there, both as a prisoner or as a guard or their family. You can even hear to sounds from the city from the Island, must of been tortuous on its own. There's a great view of the city from the ferry and from the island. We returned back to the hotel to discover we both were seriously sunburnt.... you would of thought we'd learnt by now. We met a bunch of Thoughtworkers that Tim and I are friends with for a birthday dinner. Awesome to see everyone again, and also to meet new people that I'd heard an awful lot about.

On Sunday I decided that I hadn't eaten enough of the seafood at Fisherman's Wharf so we headed back there for lunch in the Ferry Building. Really good fresh crab cakes and shrimp sandwiches. We then met up with Ian and Suzi and headed towards the Haight district. Forgetting that it was the Bay to Breakers fun run that day, the place was a mad house. Definitely a time to see the more erm eccentric side of San Francisco.

 We had a lovely time in San Francisco. A great place for eating! We didn't go to the Wine Country on this trip as we thought it would be too rushed, so I'm definitely looking forwards to that someday in the not too distant future hopefully.