Kate Takes California: Part II

After another full day of meetings, we all really needed some R&R. Wednesday night we hit up the traditional "Irish pub" of Petaluma (what?) and enjoyed sitting on the patio until the sun went down and the temp dropped to the 40s. It's true that I deal with temperatures this low 6 months out of the year, but in California in August? I had just about enough of that. I made everyone go inside so my poor flip-flop-cladden feet could warm up.






This looks like a scene from the birds, but it was really cool to watch these guys swoop around for 5 minutes, go back to their perch, and then back to the swooping thing. Strange creatures.





Thursday we had another long day ahead of us. That's right. It was beach day. A pretty heated east coast v west coast volleyball game ensued (I picked east coast as my team, as I hand spent time hanging out with them during the week, and they are a much smaller sales team. Good thing too, because the west coast was ALL talk. I think it ended up 3-0 East coast. Way to go my friends.














Finally the competition subsided and the relaxing part of beach day began. Some people kayaked (and got to see seals 10 feet away from them, awesome!) and my bosses daughter Madelyn got her first taste (literally) of the ocean sand.










seriously how cute is this?







After a fun trip back into SFO on hwy 1 (Read: not fun for the weak of stomach, including yours truly) we spent a short period of time in touristville USA, ate at McCormicks and Kulitos (and had what was truly the best Halibut of my life) in Ghiradelli square and bought some sourdough to throw in the freezer at home.





Of course I grabbed a quick shot of this bride and groom





The next morning, after the panic of an ammonia spill (and the possibility of being stranded at the Airport hotel) I finally got to SFO, bought a few pounds of Peet's and got a free cup to go (apparently when you spend $30 some dollars on coffee they'll give you a free cup). This was when I realized that I couldn't actually BRING my DAMN coffee with me to the terminal because Peet's was in ticketing. DAMN YOU TSA and your crazy 2oz bottle rule.

This gave me the opportunity to relax under what turned out to be a pretty cool sculpture hanging right outside of the terminal. Fine, I guess I'll forgive the TSA, but only this one time.

Kate takes on California (Day one)

I know what you're thinking. Kate starts a new job, Kate stops blogging. Guys, it's not true! There is no doubt I've been busy. Learning a new job does take up time and energy. Add that to a couple of weddings and baby shoots, plus a trip to sunny CA and a bout of the stomach flu and there you have it. Bad blogging. Now I'm not making any promises. I have a bunch of things coming up pretty soon here. But I am going to give it a concerted effort to be better. In the mean time... here is a glimpse into my "work" trip to California.



My company is based out of Petaluma, CA, which ensures a trip through San Fran. I love this city, but since I was riding with others, I didn't really have a chance to do anything on my own. No worries. We at least stopped at a "scenic overlook"



My 1st day of the sales meeting was tough. A plant tour in the morning, followed by long lunch and 3 hours of meetings afterwards (I know you're feeling my pain right now).

Now I realize I told you I wasn't going to mention the company I work for. The same holds true today, but if you figure it out from a picture or two I'll just think you're REALLY savvy.

The sales team (well, 1/2 of us)



Mmmm, veggie burgers.



The beginning of cheese enchiladas



The amazing thing about this company is that so much is still done by hand.











The last thing I expected a plant to smell was pleasant. Today it smelled like the inside of a Mexican grandmothers kitchen. Not bad!









There is a ham in every group



Get this. They make their own tofu... by hand. We ate some right off the pressing block (this was the 1st delicious step towards me having a very full and bloated soy belly by the end of the week).







We didn't get to see any soup being made, but the set up looked pretty cool






After our three long treacherous hours of meetings (you hate me, don't you? Hold on, it gets better) we headed off to a ranch about 10 minutes from downtown Petaluma.



complete with pomegranate trees



.. .and a fully equipped bakery



















... and scenes that look right out of an Anthropologie catalogue







... and chef preparing us produce purchased at the farmers market that morning





We stayed until dusk, filled to the brim and more content than ever before. Seriously this place was so incredibly beautiful. I'm thinking about getting our marriage annulled so we can get married all over again at this place. I can't even imagine what it would be like to live on the premises (three families have small cottages on the land, that are just as cute inside as they are out)







Up next: Beach day!