Dad & Mom Visit

My parents had some time off around the Easter holiday, and they flew to California to see Eric and me. I was so excited to have them visit!!! My Mom and sister drove out here in June with me. However, both of my parents had not seen our apartment all 'fixed' up (using my Southern vocabulary). My parents arrived on Thursday evening, and I was so happy to see them in CA.

On Friday, I gave my parents the Palo Alto tour. We went to Stanford and downtown Palo Alto. I was sure to make stops at all of the Stanford sports facilities to keep my Dad interested. He really liked the Stanford golf course. It is a beautiful course. We stopped at the Apple store downtown the day before the iPad was revealed and Google. For lunch we had In-N-Out Burger. Yum! Later in the day, we went to Happy Feet, a Chinese reflexology spa, to get massages. The massages are very interesting. They are done fully clothed in a large recliner in a room with other customers using reflexology. However, for $25 per hour, it was a fun, relaxing, and new experience for me and my parents. After our massages, Dad found a Chinese restaurant next door where we had appetizers before dinner. We had the BEST wonton soup ever! We loved it. We met up with Eric for dinner at a Thai restaurant in downtown Palo Alto. This was the first time for my parents to have Thai food, and they liked it.

Saturday was a big trip for us. We headed to Monterey Bay, Pebble Beach, and Carmel for the day. Eric and I went to this area when I visited in November 2008 when he was rotating at Stanford as medical student. My parents are golf enthusiasts and loved Pebble Beach and the 17-Mile Drive. The golf courses and views are amazing. My Dad got a few pebbles from the beach for paper weights. We had lunch at the club house where we saw pictures of famous golfers. My Dad brought his putter and practiced on the putting green. He putted well. Now, we are looking forward to watching the US Open in June this year to see Pebble Beach again but on TV. We went to Carmel to visit Clint Eastwood's area. We browsed in the shops and had dessert at a famous candy store. We headed back to Palo Alto, watched the NCAA basketball semi-finals on TV, and ordered pizza.

My Dad left Sunday morning for Atlanta to see the Masters. So Mom and I went to the local farmer's market and then to San Jose for shopping at Santana Row. Mom left for home that afternoon. It was a great to spend time with my parents! I can't wait for them to come back to visit us again.

Mom & Dad at IKEA

Dad riding my bike

Dad being silly at dinner

Dad & Mom at Stanford

Mom imitating the Rodin sculptures

Family at Pebble Beach

Mom & Dad with the Lone Cypress, the symbol of Pebble Beach's logo

Along the 17-Mile Drive

Dad & Eric watching others play on the 18th hole

Dad practicing his swing at Pebble Beach

Dad enjoying Pebble Beach

Eric trying to use my Dad's left-handed putter.

He made this one.

Eric and the candy cottage

Dad and Clint Eastwood

Video of Dad's putting at Pebble Beach

A "Wicked" Good Birthday

For my 28th birthday, Eric and I went to see Wicked in San Francisco. Ever since we moved here, I have been wanting to go see the musical. I love musicals and plays, and I was very excited to see Wicked because I've heard so many good reviews of the show. The reviews were correct. I loved every minute of the play! Eric even liked it. We had orchestra seats so I was able to see everything in the play. As we were leaving, I bought a poster with signatures from the cast- it didn't hurt that it was tax deductible. I couldn't get the songs from the show out of my head- "Popular! I know about popular!" and "I'm defying gravity." Also, here is a little known San Francisco fact- Wicked started out in San Francisco before moving to Broadway in 2003. Eric took me to dinner near Union Square at First Crush. We had a delicious meal and talked about the play. My 28th birthday turned out to be a "wickedly" good one.

San Francisco Civic Center- near our parking spot

WICKED!

Outside the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco with Elphaba & Glinda

Me & the witches

My handsome husband patiently waiting for dinner after the play

Rancho San Antonio

The weather has been great here in California, and on Sunday, it was really great. So we went hiking in Palo Alto with some of our friends and Eric's co-residents. The views from Rancho San Antonio were amazing. You can see Palo Alto and a lot of the Bay area. It was a great hike and good times with new friends.

View of Palo Alto

Eric & me with a beautiful background

Eric & me with another view of the city

We could also see San Francisco from this view.

Ariel, Achal, Do, & Eric enjoying the hike

By the way, there were a lot of people hiking that day, and we couldn't find parking. So we parked in a neighborhood near the park and stopped in for an open house at a home for sale. It was too funny that we were crashing the open house just for parking because we certainly cannot afford a $2 million dollar house. :)

Hogs beat the Bears!

The Arkansas Razorback Baseball team played a 3-game series against Cal this past weekend. Eric and I met up with Scott and Kristen Walnofer to go the game on Saturday. It was a beautiful and sunny California day at the ball park. There were lots of Hog fans there and most were members of the San Francisco Alumni Association. We enjoyed "calling the Hogs." It was my first time to do so since moving to CA (or at least in public). The Razorbacks won 9-5 and hit 3 home runs over the fence. Go Hogs! After the game, we toured the UC Berkeley campus. It was pretty but not as pretty as Stanford's campus. For dinner, Scott (the soon-to-be graduate of the Culinary Institute of America) picked the restaurant- Vic's Chaat. It was an authentic (very authentic) Indian restaurant. No one really understood the menu except for Scott so he did all of the ordering for us. The food was very different than Indian-fusion food I've had before, but it was very good. There were a lot of surprising tastes in the dishes. However, I would not recommend Indian desserts. I did not like them at all. One even tasted like roses- maybe prepared with rose water?? Don't waste your time on that. It was a great day hanging out with the Razorbacks and our friends.

Go Hogs!

Razorback Baseball Team

Scott, Kristen and Eric at Berkeley

Sather Tower- UC Berkeley's Campanile

It is the 3rd largest bell and clock tower in the world.

View of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance from the Campanile

Eric took a picture of our receipt so we could ask some of our friends what we ate.

Viva Las Vegas

Eric had a week of vacation so we headed to VEGAS! Eric has never been to Las Vegas, and I went with my family when I was 16 years old. So we were excited to see all of the lights and glitz of Vegas. It was such a short flight for us since we live close to Nevada. We were in Vegas in no time at all. While we were there, we enjoyed touring "The Strip" with all of the beautiful hotels, casinos, shopping, and restaurants. We played a few games and won a little bit of money. We watched Mystere, a Cirque de Soleil show. It was amazing! Eric and I couldn't believe all of the talent. I was also scared the whole time we watched the show because all of the crazy acrobatics they do! I was worried someone was going to get hurt, but they didn't- thank goodness. We also saw a magic show, and I made Eric ride the gondola with me at The Venetian. One night, we met up with Missy, a friend of mine from Morrilton who moved to Vegas 6 years ago. She had tickets to a VIP event at the Hard Rock Cafe. We enjoyed seeing her and listening to the music. She is always so much fun. Missy and I had our picture taken at the event, and she called me last week to let me know we made a local magazine. I guess I am hanging out with the right people. :) Eric and I headed back to California, but I'm sure we will visit again since we live close by and had a great and relaxing vacation in Las Vegas.

Eric starting off at the slot machine. Lady Luck!

Eric and the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel

Me at the Paris Hotel

At the Venetian with one the statues

I have no idea how those people stay so still without passing out.

On the gondola ride I made Eric get on with me

Our gondola driver

It really looks like a true sky.

Happy Chinese New Year! We have celebrate this a lot since moving to the West Coast.

Missy and me at the Hard Rock Cafe event she invited us to

Dr. & Mrs. Wright in VEGAS!

My handsome husband waiting on the Mirage volcano show

Wow!

Bellagio Hotel lobby- beautiful

Happy Chinese New Year, again! It is the year of the Tiger.

Me & the Tiger- It is going to be Rita's year. :)

Enjoying the scenery

Sleeping lions at the MGM Grand

They are asleep on top of the walk-through. This is probably the closest I've been to a lion.

Bellagio water show

Eric enjoying the view

Caesar's Palace

We had a great time in Vegas!